Utah’s newest Little League sanctioned baseball/softball team will be holding free Pitch, Hit & Run events in Goshen and Payson for boys and girls ages 7 to 14. These events are the first Little League sanctioned events in south Utah County, and are being held by the new Pioneer Valley Little League team. League director Ray Petrulsky said that this is an exciting time for local baseball.
“We’ve got two Pitch, Hit & Runs that we’re running on May 16 at the fields in Goshen and June 13 in Payson at the brand new ball fields at the Gene Hillman Recreation Complex,” Petrulsky said.
Both events go from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
“Each is a one-day event for boys and girls, and is designed to encourage youth participation in baseball and softball by testing fundamental skills,” he said. “We’ve been approved for Little League Baseball out here in the central Utah valley. We’ve got a field use agreement with Goshen field use agreement in Payson.”
Petrulsky explained that the event is the official youth skills competition of Major League Baseball, and those who qualify are able to participate in the Pitch, Hit & Run event at the Little League World Series in Willimansport, Pennsylvania.
“Participants get two practice pitches and they throw five pitches at a target and then they run from home plate to first base and they get timed on a stopwatch,” he explained. “They hit off a tee and then the distance travels in the air and where it lands, those three scores get sent into Major League Baseball with all the kids throughout the world that participate in these Pitch, Hit & Run events. Kids are then invited to advance to playoffs and districts and all those other things leading up to the World Series.”
Petrulsky explained that it has long been a goal of his to have an official Little League organization in central Utah because he feels like the area and Utah as a whole is “underrepresented” at the Little League World Series.
“The kids in the valley are unrepresented, and I say that because it would take them 50 miles to get to the nearest Little League team from where we live in Goshen,” he said. “There isn’t a lot of Little League represented in the state. Utah is dominated by city leagues.
“Little League is sponsored by Little League International, and it’s different from City league because you have to be your own independent organization and a 501(c)(3) organization nonprofit. You can’t make money. You have to do it for free. Everybody has background checks and the safety rules are a lot different for Little League Baseball.”
Petrulsky says that his goal is to add to what is already existing at the city level, by giving children who want it, a chance to advance on to compete internationally. He said that he is grateful to both the cities of Goshen and Payson for allowing them time to have this first league event as they look forward to officially opening the team in 2027.
“We got the boundary approved which runs everywhere from Payson to Nephi and all the towns in between,” he said. “Genola, Goshen, Sandaquin, Payson, Nephi, Levan and other towns like Eureka are in our boundaries. What we’ve done over the last several months has been going to city halls, and most of the mayors and city councils are big supporters of it. This is a pathway for kids in the area to get recognized.”
Jeremy Alvy, assistant recreation director at Payson City, said that what Petrulsky is doing is a “great thing,” to help kids get to the next level.
For more information on the Pitch, Hit & Run events in Goshen and Payson, go to pioneervalleylittleleague.org.
