Affiliations
Answers to Common Questions
MOBL President and Vice president
Wade Westfall
- Resides in Troy
- Involved in the league since 1993
- Serves as President of the league
- Deals with administrative responsibilities
Gregg Beemer
- Resides in Dayton
- Involved in the league since 2000
- Serves as Vice President of Baseball Operations
- Deals with day-to-day baseball responsibilities
Both Wade and Gregg have extensive administration experience in the private sector along with youth organizations. They have over 50 years combined youth coaching experience. There is also a league advisory board consisting of selected members who have past affiliation with the league.
As always, we welcome your feedback, especially if you have concrete, viable options which you feel we should consider (after you have taken time to understand the League’s current positions).
What is a 'league game' vs. a 'non-league game?'
A league game is any game which the league dictates is to be played. This may also include a game across a geographical division. (For example if the league and dictates that you play everyone in your division twice and in the opposite division once.) All games not dictated by the league are non-league games and do not have any factor on league standings. If you pick up any additional games outside of the sanctioned league games, they do not count toward league standings.
Where do our league fees go?
League fees go to pay for the following: Trophies (medals); Dayton Dragons night; Sportsmanship award; renting meeting rooms; league insurance; office supplies; league phone; printing and copy service; office equipment; accounting services; legal services; national affiliations; paid World Series bids; league website design, maintenance and web hosting; league management and administration. We encourage coaches to do a cost/benefit analysis against other select baseball leagues in the state or other select organizations. Our goal has been and will always be to bring the highest level of competitive baseball to the youth of the Miami Valley and to give the coaches and parents a professional structure to accomplish that goal at a reasonable cost.
Why has the league decided to implement the Dayton Dragons Night rather than the Year-End Tournament in ages 8-10?
At the younger age levels, many teams were finding it difficult to schedule a tournament due to vacations, other tournaments and conflicts with the start of other sporting seasons. Many teams were canceling at the last minute creating a scheduling and logistic nightmare. Additionally, we received significant feedback from coaches, players and parents that the Dayton Dragons Night is the best award those teams have received and a great experience. At this level, we have found kids want to be kids, and after a long season they really do not miss another game.
What is the Dayton Dragons Night and End of Season Tournament?
All of our top teams in every divisional split of every age group receive an award such as a high quality medal. Depending on age groups, we also award our teams with an end-of-season tournament or our Midwest Ohio Baseball League night at the Dayton Dragons.
- Teams receiving the tournament, experience an all-expense-paid single elimination one-night league tournament.
- Teams receiving the Dragon’s night, experience a fun-filled night at the Dayton Dragons game. Coaches and players receive admission to the game and a Dragons hat. Players are chosen to throw out the first pitch. Teams experience a parade on the field prior to the start of the game. A team is chosen for a meet-and-greet with the professional players and a behind-the-scenes private tour.
Last year nearly 1000 players, coaches, parents and family attended the Dragons night. For many years now, we have filled the entire outfield stands plus all the lawn sections including the Dragons Lair with Midwest Ohio Teams and families. Please keep in mind that the league has not raised fees in over 8 years. We work hard to keep our expenses down and pride ourselves in putting the league fees back into the kids.
What is the Sportsmanship Award?
Each year a team is selected and is recognized for sportsmanship. This award is recommended and voted on by our umpires, with final approval by the administration and board. This is the most important award that the league gives. The team receiving the sportsmanship award is recognized with a special medal at the Dayton Dragons night. They enjoy the game in a private party deck in center field with food and soft drinks. This award not only recognizes the coaches and players but also their family members. We believe sportsmanship is not limited to our coaches and players, but also the fans that follow them.
How are the divisional splits made?
This explanation can be found on the website under League info and rules section: But the mission of Competition Based Divisions is to provide a format for select baseball teams to compete at the highest, team-appropriate, competition level in the area. All new teams enter the lowest division for the age group. Any team that believes they belong in a division other than the one assigned by the league, have the opportunity to appeal the decision. A written petition must be sent to the league using the Division Assignment Petition Form found under the coaches’ corner on the league website.
Why do we have “real baseball” rules regarding stealing and dropped 3rd strikes for 9U?
The league used to have “little league like” rules which meant no stealing until ball the crosses home plate. As a result, many teams left the league seeking leagues which played “real baseball”.
From the Leagues perspective, here are the issues that occur with “no lead-off” rules:
- It is very difficult to enforce with one umpire
- Teams will be at a significant disadvantage whenever they go to most tournaments or want to play teams outside our league (SWOL or Columbus) since most play real baseball rules.
- We have thought about doing ½ the season with no-lead-off then switching….but since there is no mid-season and no uniform time that each team will have played the entire rest of their schedule, doing so will certainly create controversy where teams are accused of scheduling to avoid playing best teams when they play real baseball.
- Different rules for D1 vs. DII. This might work…however, it is likely that having different rules will keep DI and DII teams from playing each other… meaning teams will not challenge themselves and the league will have more difficulty picking competitive divisional splits at 10U
- Anytime we have rules that are league specific, it seems to put our teams at a disadvantage.
We are open to ideas on how to deal with this issue. Please keep in mind that this does not negate the fact that all coaches should always do their best to develop players and having a run fest or taking advantage of a situation (running players for the purpose of running up the score or an easy win) serves no purpose and goes against the higher level of coaching, youth development, competition and sportsmanship that we pride ourselves on.
Why do you not continue the run rule in the last inning of 8u games?
If the last inning did not allow an unlimited number of runs, the game would be over prior to the last at-bat via run rule automatically. The intent with 8u was to get as many at bats and plays for the young players and this process helped make that happen. We took this rule from the rules of other tournaments and leagues. If you have some helpful advice to deal with this issue, please email us the details. This is an overwhelming concern of the league and coaches in the younger age groups. Coaches, we ask that you use good judgment in controlling a situation on the field at all times. It serves no purpose taking advantage (due to age) of a player or team. We ask that you help develop players on both teams and use good sportsmanship and class.
What is the league doing to handle "bad eggs" or unsportsmanlike behavior?
We have seen all types of coaches and teams come and go. A number of these “bad eggs” take care of themselves through their team’s internal politics. Parents will not put up with, for the most part; coaching that is unprofessional and has the potential of damaging their child. With regard to rule violations and egregious behavior, the league follows very strict guidelines to professionally investigate any issue.
How do I handle letting the league know about an infraction or concern with another team or coach?
We ask that the Issue Resolution Form be filled out and emailed to the league. Once received, all request are investigated by the league. We request this in writing to weed out the drama of the moment that happens from time to time. We figure if someone is willing to spend the time putting the issue in writing then the league has the responsibility to investigate and respond. For the 2013 season the league is incorporating a "Penalty and Sanctions" area on the home page of the website. This will allow us to address all violations such as, but not limited to, ejections, rule infractions, behavior unbecoming of a coach, player or team. We will post all such infractions on the website for public consumption. What does that mean? If a player or coach is ejected from a game, the information will be posted on the website by team name, age group, name of coach (player’s names will not be posted) reason for ejection (such as arguing umpire call, fowl language, etc.). It will also document penalty (such as 2 game suspension). We believe this will help in policing the behavior in our league and will allow communication with all those that participate such as parents, players and coaches. Over the years the league has taken harsh action for egregious violations. We have suspended and at times banned coaches, teams, parents and players from playing in the league for violations such as forged documents, un-sportsmanlike behavior, and improper blog/webpostings, just to mention a few. Our goal is not to embarrass anyone but to set a high example and to hold everyone accountable for their role in being involved in youth athletics.
All of last year’s coaches were contacted for this survey. If you did not get the opportunity to have a concern addressed with our surveyor, please feel free to email us at the league. The Miami Valley has a great baseball tradition and each of us involved in Midwest Ohio Baseball League is here to serve you and your teams in order to continue that grand tradition.
Thank you for being a part of Midwest Ohio Baseball League,
Wade Westfall, President
Gregg Beemer, Vice President
