Historically, the Pioneer Valley Youth Baseball League was organized by eight primary associations.  Those associations were located in Amherst, Dalton, Deerfield (Frontier), Greenfield, Northampton, Shelburne Falls  (West County), South Hadley, and Ware.   However, recently, the associations in Dalton, South Hadley, and Ware have not participated regularly.  Alternatively, groups in Brattlebore and Whitingham, Vermont have regulary organized teams and participated in the planning of league activity.

Historically, the associations organized teams for play in the Mickey Mantle and Connie Mack Divisions of the American Amateur Baseball Congress and its local affiliate, the Western Massachusetts Amateur Baseball Congress. 

However, the PVYBL will function independently of the AABC, this summer, like the league has since 2008.  The national championship schedule of the AABC requires that league activity conclude at the end of the  first week of July. Usually, the Massachusetts scholastic tournament prevents most Mantle teams from starting until the second week of June.   Hence, most teams would experience only a 20 day summer season under AABC arrangements.  

Consequently, the Directors of the PVYBL voted to forgo play in the AABC national championships and play a six week seasonal schedule and conclude activity with a week long double elimination tournament.  

This summer, the PVYBL will organize play for the Sandy Koufax Division and the Mickey Mantle Divsion. This will be the tenth consecutive year in which Koufax play will be organized by the PVYBL.  

MICKEY MANTLE DIVISION

As always, the League organized Mickey Mantle activity during the 2026 summer.  This division is for youngsters who are 15 and 16 years old at the start of the previous school year.  More specifically, the Mantle division was for youngsters who were aged 16 or younger on September 1, 2025.       

This summer, the Mantle Division included teams from Brattleboro, Northfield (Raptors), and Shelburne Falls (West County).  

SANDY KOUFAX DIVISION

Furthermore, the PVYBL organized a Sandy Koufax division for the first time in 2017 and did so during 2026.  This division served youngsters aged 13 and 14 on September 1, 2025. 

During the 2026 season, the Koufax Division included teams from Amherst, Brattleboro, Deerfield (Frontier), Northfield, Northampton, Turners Falls, and Shelburne Falls (West County). Brattleboro and Frontier will form two teams, so the Koufax Division had nine teams.

Amherst enjoyed a great season, winning both the seasonal championship and the tournament title!

LEAGUE SCHEDULE

Historically, each Koufax and Mantle team has played an 18 game seasonal schedule and, then, participated in a double elimination tournament.  The seasonal schedules of each division have been played during a six week period.  The tournaments have lasted a week.  

The Koufax Division regular season began on June 7 and concluded on July 18.  The double-elimination tournament of that division concluded on July 25.  Each team was scheduled to play one another twice, this season, so each Koufax team had an initial slate of sixteen games

The Mantle Division schedule commenced on June 14 and will finish on August 1.  Each Mantle Division team was scheduled to play sixteen games.

LEAGUE RULES

The Pioneer Valley Youth Baseball League observes the Rules of the National Federation of High Schools and some special PVYBL rules.  PVYBL game Rules and Procedures are listed on a separate page of this site.

TEAM AFFILIATIONS

A youngster who wishes to participate in PVYBL activity should contact the Commissioner or one of the Association Directors or team coaches in his area.  The Directors and Coaches are listed on other pages of this website.  Importantly, the organizational territories of PVYBL associations correspond to local high school districts.  Consequently, the composition of association teams is similar to that of local scholastic teams.  However, a youngster may choose to play in the area in which he resides, the area in which he attends school, or, via league waiver, for a team in another area.

LEAGUE COMMISSIONER

The Commissioner of the Pioneer Valley Youth Baseball League is Artie Burke.  He can be contacted at 413 863-2452 or AEBurke11@verizon.net.