MARA offers two seasons of baseball.  The spring season begins March and runs through the end of June.  The fall season generally begins in August and runs through the end of October.  Open workouts and practices will precede these time frames.

IMPORTANT: 

• EVALUATIONS - BOTH DIVISIONS (14 & 16U)
  SATURDAY AUGUST 17th 10:00 AM  
  PRACTICES WILL BEGINSHORTLY AFTER
  NO INFORMATION ON WHEN THE REGULAR SEASON BEGINS  TBD
  Evals held on 'Big Field', Field 2 towards the rear of the complex.  
  
  

All players from age 13 through 16 play in our Little League and 17-18 will play in Babe Ruth.  We offer three divisions within this league:

• 14U – (Ages 13-14) Juniors (Little League)
• 14U - CHALLENGE BASEBALL IS HERE!!! See below... 
  
• 16U – (Ages 15-16) Seniors (Little League)
• 18U – (Ages 17-18) Babe Ruth
   * 18U registration is open; please register to receive news and updates regarding evaluations and roster size.  

Commissioner Contact: Pablo Ocasio [email protected]

Teams will compete in a regular season within their division playing 12-14 games.  At the end of the season, an End-of-Season Tournament will be held.  All-Star teams will be selected from each division (by age) to represent each league at the North Carolina Little League State Tournament.  Teams that qualify can also expect to attend the Babe Ruth SE Regionals and Babe Ruth World Series.

Middle school and high school baseball players can play in the spring season because regular season Little League/Babe Ruth games generally do not start until early May and run through the end of June.  Babe Ruth teams will have open workouts in late March and begin practicing in April. 

Age Cutoffs:
Juniors Division (including Challenge) - the player will need to be born between September 1, 2009 and August 31, 2011
Seniors Division – the player will need to be born between September 1, 2007 and August 31, 2009
18U Babe Ruth Division – the player will need to be born between January 1, 2005 and May 1, 2008 

Little League 14U and 16U Divisions (13-16)
Players aged 13-16 get the complete baseball experience with runners leading, pitchers picking off runners, and a regulation field with 90 feet between bases and a distance of 60 feet 6 inches from the pitching rubber to home plate.  Players will participate within the Union County Babe Ruth League and compete against other recreational leagues within the area.
- All players are placed on a team, however, first come/first served if roster spaced become limited
- There are NO tryouts

14U Juniors Challenge Information
Little League now allows organizations to participate in “challenge-like” games during the season! It is also the intent/expectation that players that play on the challenge team also play on the regular season team too (i.e., no hired arms for the challenge team).  Coaches will select and tryout players for the Challenge team(s).
- EXCELLENT alternative to travel ball cost and commitment
- Challenge will be by invite and/or tryout 
- Inter-league scrimmages against other district challenge/travel teams as well as 2 to 4 tournaments
- Additional cost for jerseys

** 16U Challenge is an option if we have enough participants

Babe Ruth 18U Division A great opportunity for 17- and 18-year-olds (and some 19-year-olds) to continue to play the game they love.  Games against both Little League and Union County Babe Ruth League opponents ensure robust competition.  

EVALUATIONS - 18U
TBD

Please click the links to read and review the Local Rules for the following divisions:
Local Rules - Babe Ruth

Refund Policy

Matthews Athletic and Recreation Association (MARA) incurs various league, medical, security, uniform, insurance, and administrative fees which are not refundable to the organization.  Therefore, if you withdraw your player fifteen (15) days or more before the stated registration period closes for a sport/program, we will provide a refund of the total registration fee, LESS A $50 Processing Fee.  Otherwise, we do not provide any refunds for a player withdrawing from the program.