Litchfield Arsenal 12U

The Litchfield Arsenal is entering its seventh year as a competitive travel baseball program. The team runs under the direction of the Litchfield Baseball Association (LBA) Board of Directors. This is the organization which runs the recreational baseball program from ages 5 to 15 in Litchfield, NH. You do not have to play in the LBA in order to play for the Arsenal. The eventual goal of the program is to have the U-12 team play for a week at one of the Cooperstown Dreams Park tournaments. The team usually goes the last week of July or the first week of August.

The Arsenal field two teams a U-12 and a U-11 team to play in the Spring baseball league of the New England Amateur Athletic Union (NEAAU). The NEAAU attracts teams primarily from MA, NH and RI, but also some from ME and VT. The League splits teams geographically by Division attempting to keep teams within 1 hour driving distance for regular season play. Game format is two 6 inning games on either Saturday or Sunday in April and May. Teams must play their Divisional opponents and they can choose to play outside their division for additional games. In early June, the NEAAU holds a tournament to determine the teams which then can represent the area in the National Championships.  The League is highly competitive drawing both Town oriented teams and existing "programs" that draw from multiple large towns.

Players that play AAU Baseball have an advantage in making their All Star teams and School teams in the future, because they play more, learn the rules of the game, and play against better competition all the time. In addition, at 13 years old when the size of the field changes to the regulation distances it is not as much of a stretch for these players to adjust to the size change. In general AAU Baseball is like watching All Star Baseball every weekend.