Pasadena Plays Host to SoCal Little League Championship Tourney

Pasadena will host this year’s 50/70 Intermediate Southern California State Championship Little League Tournament, a stop on the way to the 2024 Little League Intermediate 50/70 World Series.

The free Tournament consists of 18 to 19 games, which will be played daily at Victory Park, from July 3 through 12 — except for July 4.

The Tournament will feature a 50-foot pitching distance and 70-foot base paths (hence the term, “50/70”). Younger Little Leaguers often see a 46-foot pitching distance and 60-foot base paths, while Major League ballparks have a pitching distance of 60 feet, 6 inches and 90-foot base paths.

Chris Jervey, President of Pasadena American Little League (PALL), explained the reasoning behind the 50/70 format: “One of the recent goals by Little League International, the parent organization of Pasadena American Little League and all the other little leagues, was to create division inside of the league that would benefit the kids that were transitioning from a smaller baseball diamond to a larger, the full-size baseball diamond. For a lot of kids that are 13 years old or so, they really haven’t matured physically to the point where they’re ready to play on the big field.”

Jervey added, “We took up the mantle early and knowing that this would be a little bit of a change for our parents and for our community, knowing that it would just be a better thing to do for the kids at that age and to really make sure that their physical development was matched with the size of the field. It’s something that we took up early on, I think maybe earlier than some other leagues.”

The series will feature intermediate-level Little League All-Star teams, consisting mostly of 13-year-olds traveling from Santa Barbara to the Mexican border.

The Tournament is hosted by PALL and Little League District 17, which represents Altadena, Arcadia, Monrovia, Pasadena, San Marino and Sierra Madre.

This may be the first time PALL has hosted a state Tournament, at least in recent memory. As Jervey noted, “I don’t actually know if we’ve ever hosted a state Tournament before. This would definitely be the first time we ever hosted the intermediate Tournament. We only redid our field to be able to play on this size a few years ago, three or four years ago.”

“California produces more Major League ballplayers than anywhere else in the country,” Jervey said.

He added, “Fans will see some of the best youth baseball players in the state,” and “we might catch a future big-leaguer or two.”

The winner of the Pasadena Tournament will compete in the 50/70 West Region Tournament in Nogales, Arizona.

Southern California Little League is divided into 39 districts, more than any other state, and the Southern California Tournament champion will face off against state champions in the West Regional Tournament.

Jervey explained the Tournament structure: “This is a continuation of a very large Tournament that runs all the way from the district level all the way to the national and international level.”

He added, “Typically the Tournaments are double elimination, so you have an opportunity to lose once, but you can stay in the Tournament until you lose a second time and then you’re out of the Tournament. Every round is that same kind of a format and the winner of every round progresses.”

The winners of the nation’s various Region Tournaments will face each other until a U.S. champion is named. That team will then face an international champion from the worldwide Tournament, leading to the Intermediate 50/70 World Series.

Jervey said the club saw the opportunity to host coming a while ago.

“We knew going into the season —  in October — that District 17 might have an opportunity to host this Tournament. We probably probably secured it in April.”

He highlighted the impact of the Tournament on the local community: “It’s a really great opportunity for us to showcase our beautiful hometown. I mean, those of us who live in Pasadena know how special of a place it is. I

“We hope that there’s a little bit of a benefit to Pasadena and that I think we’ll have people that are going to come from out of town and they’re going to eat in the local restaurants and they’re going to hopefully stay in the local hotels. There’s an economic impact as well, both to the community and to the organization PALL. Every dollar we make from selling nachos or a hot dog or a Pepsi or whatever is another dollar that helps us continue to run what we hope is a really impactful and positive youth sports league.”

The Tournament relies heavily on volunteers.

“Volunteers play a really, really wide role both in planning and execution. We have obviously league administration, like me and our Tournament director are closely working with volunteers across the district and the district administration just on figuring out what it’s going to take.”

He estimated that 20 to 30 people are involved in preparation, with 10 to 12 volunteers needed for each game.

Looking to the future, Jervey said PALL’s is  excited to continue to work closely with the local high schools and junior high schools

“We are continuing to develop skill development programs with Marshall and with Pasadena High School because really we’re a feeder for those programs,” he said.

Games will be played at Victory Park, 2575 Paloma Street, next to Pasadena High School.

Here is the Game schedule for the 50/70 Intermediate Southern California State Championship:

July 3rd – 4 p.m. & 7 p.m.

July 5th – 4 p.m. & 7 p.m.

July 6th – 9 a.m., Noon, 3 p.m. & 6 p.m.

July 7th – Noon & 3 p.m.

July 8th – 4 p.m. & 7 p.m.

July 9th – 4 p.m. & 7 p.m.

July 10th – 4 p.m. & 7 p.m.

July 11th – 6 p.m.

July 12th – 4 p.m. & 7 p.m.