CYBL Commissioner Randy Brown responds to parents' concerns

As a follow-up to the comments made at the June 5th meeting of the Circleville Board of Park Commissioners , Circleville Youth Baseball League (CYBL) Commissioner Randy Brown visited the Circleville Herald’s office and provided the following details about incidents and happenings addressed at the meeting. The online version of this story includes a link to that story — Parents voice concerns about the CYBL — which was published June 8.

Brown explained that:

• There is no proof of a hostile environment

• There are going to be disgruntled parents — that happens

• It was stated that a player was body-slammed, but there is an incident report filed with the league that describes the incident as a “bump” between two boys

• At this game with the “bump” incident, there was a division commissioner present at the game who stayed after the game and watched the two coaches shake hands — when everything seemed fine, he stepped away — then the “bump” happened and everything escalated

• The person mentioned in the excessive celebration incident was a board member but was acting as a concerned parent — they did not pull the “I am a board member” power play

• The blatant misuse of power was mentioned but he has not seen any evidence or proof of that

• There was mention of a pre-game conversation with him and an umpire on the subject of Coach Max Brooks — Brown stated that, as League Commissioner, he is allowed to warn an umpire if he thinks there could be a possible hostile environment and that early in the season, Coach Brooks did not play by the rules

• Brown did not see an unsafe environment

• The incident involving the motorcycle started when an assistant coach was thrown out of a game by a board member — they were engaged in conversation after the ejection when the assistant coach “got of hand” and the board member called the police who came to the park. When the assistant coach and the board member and a commissioner talked with the police, the police left and the assistant coach left, but came back on his motorcycle. The police were called a second time and the assistant coach left, burning rubber, before the police returned

Brown explained the structure of the CYBL, saying that there were four divisions:

• Major League — for ages 11, 12 and 13

• Minor League — for ages 9 and 10

• Coach Pitch — for ages 6, 7 and 8

• T-Ball — for ages 3, 4 and 5

The CYBL will allow 3-year-olds to play T-Ball if they are potty-trained.

With 26 teams and about 10-12 players per team, there are approximately 300 players in the CYBL. Brown stated that attendance at the games has been strong this summer, with parents, grandparents and family attending.

The CYBL season starts in January with sign-ups for players. coaches and volunteers. The sign-ups are open until mid-March. The coaches and board members are all unpaid volunteers.

Player selection for the top three divisions is done by a draft, specifically a “snake draft” which means that the order of selection for a 6-team division would be 1,2,3,4,5,6,6,5,4,3,2,1, etc. Each age is drafted separately, so all then 13-year-olds are selected first, then the 12-year-old, etc. For T-Ball, the teams are hand-picked.

In each division, the coach for each team gets to keep his sons on his team, but has to give up a draft pick for that privilege. The summer season ends on June 29th this year, and there is an end-of-season Fish Fry. There is also an end-of-season board meeting scheduled for June 30.

In July, there are All-Star teams formed for each division with the winning coach in each division getting to select the players and coach the All-Star Team. These are the traveling teams who play in “rec” tournaments in July and early August.

There is a draft for Fall Ball at the end of July. Fall Ball starts in mid-August with practices; the games start around the end of August and last until the second week of October. Fall Ball takes place on Saturdays only. Doubleheaders are played in Fall Ball.

Nominations for Board membership happen in November. Elections are in December.

The team Brown coaches this year has a 6-7 record. He recalled a recent game where his team was up by one run in the bottom of the last inning against the 1st place team in their division. They got the first two outs, and the potential for an upset had everyone on his team excited. But, the next batter walked, and two hits and two runs later, the game was over.

“We’re out here to teach them a little bit about life,” said Brown, “We’re not always going to be winners.”

The CYBL has made many improvements to the baseball diamonds at Barthelmas Park. Their Facebook page, Circleville Youth Baseball League, says the following:

“Circleville Youth Baseball has invested over $60,000 into the park this year. Adding a new field for T-Ball/Coach pitch and dugout covers on the field. This money comes from the parents that spend money at our concession stand each night and hosting tournaments like this past Mother’s Day. The league brought in over $6,000 in 2 days! I would like to thank all the men and women that make all of this possible. They volunteer countless hours into this organization.”

Volunteers or other interested parties can contact CYBL at circlevillebaseball@gmail.com, or through their Facebook page using Messenger. Their website is: www.circlevilleyouthbaseball.com.

Their mailing address is:

Circleville Youth Baseball

PO Box 631

Circleville, Ohio 43113