So you're just out of high school or college but still have the itch to play baseball?
Now there's a way.
A local 18-and-over league begins Aug. 24 under the auspices of the California-based National Adult Baseball Association (NABA).
Organizer Kyle Taylor, 23, has six teams lined up for a 10-game schedule. There will be three opening-day games (all at 1 p.m.) at the Virginia Sports Complex in Caroline.
Taylor also is trying to arrange games for Benedictine, the Petersburg Sports Complex and possibly The Diamond (for playoffs).
Officially, the local league will be called Richmond, Virginia.
"I've been advertising on several Web sites since April, and it's really taken off," said Taylor, a recent Longwood University graduate. "In fact, right now I've got a waiting list."
Taylor's plans include doubling his team total next spring and sending all-star squads to NABA regional tournaments and world series.
This year's NABA world series is set for Jupiter, Fla., in November. Regional tournaments are in Phoenix, Denver, Cooperstown, N.Y.; Palm Beach, Fla.; and Atlantic City, N.J.
"Most guys coming out of school get into softball, but not everyone wants to play softball," Taylor said.
The league is designed to fill the baseball gap between school and the long-established 28-plus Virginia Baseball Congress (VBC).
Taylor is patterning his league after the (VBC) and views his efforts as working with the VBC, not against it.
In fact, the VBC is entering a team in the fall league - the Diamondbacks.
"We want to be like the VBC, just a younger age group," said Taylor, whose own team will be called the Riverdogs.
The nine-inning games will be umpired by the Old Dominion Umpire Association.
Taylor says teams will be in full uniform and use wooden bats - no short pants, dungarees or metal alloy bats allowed.
"This is the real thing," Taylor said.
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