Transition to Baseball and Softball

Our Pathways documents are designed to give families a rough guide when to begin transitioning from Teeball into another diamond sport. Three separate pathways are provided - potential elite level players, capable and competitive players, and players who just wish to keep active and social in the sport. Families with any questions are welcome to reach out to any Teeball Committee member, who can ensure the best advice is provided for that particular child.

We are proudly one club at Carine Cats, catering for tee-ball, baseball and softball at all levels. Our three divisions work together to develop the skills and knowledge to play the game, with the aim of fostering a lifelong love for diamond sports. Our club offers our players plenty of ways to develop their skills at a higher level and assist them in making the transition through to our baseball and softball divisions.

We have a strong history of producing players who have represented at both state and international level in baseball or softball, yet remain a strong community-based club with opportunities at not just an elite level, but also for those who want to remain in competitive competition and those who wish to remain healthy and active and keep things completely social.

We encourage our Teeball players to dip their toes into our other diamond sports through our junior baseball and softball programs, including providing an introduction to hitting a moving ball through our Machine Pitch teams.

What is Machine Pitch?

Machine Pitch is a fabulous crossover between tee ball and baseball. It is for girls and boys aged 7-10 years and gets them used to hitting a moving ball.
The ball is ”pitched” or flicked from a simple lever machine, operated by an adult. The first half of the season sees no penalties for 3 strikes. The coach will kneel next to the batter and “soft toss” a slow ball until it is hit, allowing the game to proceed for both batters and fielders.

Here are examples of the machine in action, and an action clip from a machine pitch game in action:

Machine Pitch is very similar to tee-ball in rules and uses all the same skills of fielding, throwing, base running. Introduces a ‘pitched’ ball, consistently ‘flung’ by a pitching machine. Machine Pitch also introduces position of catcher.

Machine Pitch is played on a Friday evening, meaning it is ideal for those players who are looking to play both Teeball and Machine Pitch as they transition to a moving ball sport.

For information about the appropriate age to begin Machine Pitch, see our Pathways Guides on this page. For more information about Machine Pitch, contact the Machine Pitch Coordinator at [email protected].