13U Ruffnecks 2024

13U Ruffnecks Learn During First Season

TEAM ROSTER | TEAM SCHEDULE

A new class of 13u Ruffnecks has been assembled for the 2024 spring and summer season.  As usual, our roster hails from a range of towns.  Now in our 21st season, the Ruffnecks program continues to consider what approach to take with 13 yearolds who begin the journey on the big diamond.  We do many events other programs do, and we decline to do some things many other programs choose to do.  We do NOT play in a spring league.  We have found that there is plenty to teach without week-to-week league constraints.  League play at 13u, especially during the spring, distracts from our mission of development. We divide the 13u year into a “tale of two seasons.”  The spring is at a time when weather conditions, experience, and new concepts require a focus on measured, yet competitive, opportunities to practice and play.  Our March, April, and May schedule features weekend doubleheaders and some single 9 inning games.  There are opportunities for our 13u players to join in combined rosters with the 14u players to play against prep JV squads.  Once Memorial Day Weekend arrives, we shift to a tournament focus for the remiander of the summer.  We prepare our 13u players with off season work that begins in November with team hitting sessions (weekends only).  13u players are taught hitting routines that they can use on their own, with teammates, and with older players from within the program.  Unrestricted access to “The Facility” provides virtually unlimited use of batting tunnels in a clubhouse atmosphere at no additional expense to players or families.

Roster Composition

Our 13u team is comprised of solid, committed, players.  This does not mean that we select the most “talented” players.  We look for committed players and Baseball IQ. We find success in attracting players who know about us, seek the Ruffnecks, and are willing to let the process play itself out.  We do not conduct tryouts or personal evaluations, though we use Fall Baseball as an opportunity to experience how we teach and to experience our staff.  We attract players who want to be here.  We assemble our new 13u class slowly and deliberately.  Our goal is to serve young Ruffnecks who aspire to reach the high school level successfully.  Beyond that, it is difficult to project.  Practices play an important role in the 13U year.  We encourage players to be multi-sport athletes, and during the winter months we expect players to honor their commitments to their “in season” sports and teams.

The 13U Ruffnecks 2024 roster is posted.  The roster is populated by players from a wide range of communities.  The Ruffnecks are NOT a “local” team.  The 2024 roster features players from 7 different communities throughout Massachusetts and New Hampshire.  We keep room on the roster to consider late additions.

2024 Schedule

The 13U game schedule is customized to challenge players through a mixture of competitive  opportunities.  The cumulative “wear and tear” affects players at this age.  It is, quite simply, not advisable to play the massive schedules many players experienced at the 12U level.  Accordingly, while the schedule is built to address the capacity of what a 13U player can withstand, we design it in a responsible manner.  “More” is not always more!  Especially when players are vulnerable to overuse injuries.  During late March through May, the schedule features weekend series and several tournaments.  It also includes opportunities for 13U players to play on combined rosters (with 14U Ruffnecks) in mid-week games against high school JV and Frosh opponents.  Mid-week rosters are built around availability, pitching, and positional needs.  We insist on short, measured, outings for pitchers.  Accordingly we do NOT often play 4 game weekends in the spring.  While this may surprise some, we have found it a successful, healthy, developmental approach.

Season Highlights

The 13U Ruffnecks season traditionally opens with a 14U tournament in late March in New Jersey.  We enjoy getting on the road right away.  It is a great opportunity to learn about each other.  By May, the team participates in some tournament play.  From Memorial Day Weekend to the end of July, the 13U season shifts almost exclusively to tournament baseball.  The 13U Ruffnecks play in many 14U events.  Much of the activity is at the NEBC and in the New England region.  The Ruffnecks’ founders and directors built the New England Baseball Complex, which provides a “home” of sorts for toutnaments and practice (Fall Baseball).  The Ruffnecks indoor “Facility” in Needham, Massachusetts provides an indoor hitting home exclusively for Ruffnecks.  The 13U Ruffnecks program provides a thoughtful and purposeful approach to baseball for players this age and level of development.  We are competitive, but the primary objective is experience and development.

Schedule Updated July 14, 2024 at 11:27 am
Season is Complete.  Thank You

13U Ruffnecks Schedule 2024