Post Season Play
At the conclusion of each season, a select number of players are invited to
join post-season “All Star” teams that participate in
local and regional tournaments.
These players, their teams, and their families serve as the ambassadors
of Stateline Youth Athletics to other leagues around Illinois, the PONY
North Zone,
and (potentially) all of the United States.
All Stateline PONY families are encouraged to attend these post-season tournaments,
cheer for our kids, and watch some really great baseball and softball!
All-Star Teams
Stateline PONY Baseball and Softball typically fields the following post season teams each
year.
The actual number of teams is dependent on the number and availability of
players, coaches, umpires, and fields.
| Mustang |
1 Travel Team |
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| Bronco |
1 Travel Team |
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| Pony |
1 Travel Team |
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| Colt | 1 Travel Team |
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The Mustang, Bronco, Pony, and Colt Traveling teams are entered into
PONY National Tournament play as described below.
These teams begin practicing at the conclusion of the regular
season and/or the conclusion of In-House tournaments (early July).
These teams will also likely participate in local tournaments
leading up to the PONY Sectionals in an effort to better prepare the teams
for PONY tournament play.
In-House All Star Teams are composed of the remaining qualified
players that were not selected for the Traveling All Star Teams.
These teams play in a tournament held on our own fields, usually in
early July.
Player and Coach Selection
Each All Star team is comprised of one Head Coach and 12-15 players that are
selected by the Division Director and Head Coach, and reviewed and approved by a
Committee.
Assistant coaches are chosen from the pool of parents for each team.
All Star players are selected with the objective of
fielding the best possible team.
Player selection begins with the information that is collected at tryouts.
This is supplemented with the evaluations of
“best opposing players” in the Game Reports
that are submitted by Head Coaches to the Division Director after every game.
Finally, every Head Coach (both Regular
Season and Club Team) is asked to evaluate the performance of each of his
players and pass on recommendations for All Star consideration.
Based on the Game Reports,
Tryout scores, input from these coaches, and personal
observations of player performance by the Division Director, tentative
rosters are then assembled for each All Star team by a Committee comprised
of the All Star Head Coach, Division Director, and Player Representative.
This is
immediately followed by telephone confirmation with each player regarding
their interest and availability to commit to participating with the team.
This process can take several days to complete.
National PONY Tournament Play
The PONY Baseball organization annually
sponsors a series of tournaments that ultimately lead to the
PONY World Series.
Separate tournaments are held for each division, Pinto through Palomino.
Stateline PONY typically enters one Mustang team, one Bronco team, one Pony
team, and one Colt team for Baseball and Softball into PONY tournament play, as described above.
The PONY World Series track consists of four tournament rounds:
PONY Sectional Tournaments are held in early July. Each league decides
how many teams to enter and the composition of its teams, subject to PONY
Tournament Team Rules that ensure fairness across leagues.
PONY Regional Tournaments are held in Mid July, and include all teams
that won a Sectional Tournament, plus the tournament host team.
PONY Zone Tournaments are held in early August and consist
of those teams that have won Regional tournaments.
There are six PONY Zones around the world: West, North, East, South,
Asia, and Caribbean.
Stateline PONY is located in the North Zone.
The PONY World Series is held in mid August,
and includes one team from each of the six Zones, plus
the Zone host team and tournament host team.
Details about the PONY World Series are available on the
PONY web site.
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