Signups Underway for RBI Baseball League for Older Teens

Registration is currently underway for RBI Baseball, a competitive league for baseball players aged 14 to 19. League coordinator John Pineau said that the purpose of the league is to teach each player how to be a world class baseball player, to provide players and their parents access to college programs and to provide high school and college baseball coaches with proven talent.

Pineau, who also coaches, said that there are high school boys who want to play baseball, but simply can't if they don't make the high school team. County recreational league baseball typically ends by the time a player reaches age 14.

Pineau said that he started the league as a way to give those boys a chance to play.

The league will accept players up until late March or April. Players on the roster are already beginning indoor training, so signing up sooner gives the boys longer time to build skills.

In the spring and summer, the athletes will play in a league, and also in two-day tournaments.

"It's an advanced league. It's a really cool thing because if your kid doesn't make the high school team, it doesn't mean he can't play ball," Pineau said.

However, students who play on the high school junior varsity or varsity squad are permitted to play both for their school team and for RBI. Students are required to maintain grades.

Pineau said that he feels there is a perception that baseball is no longer the hot sport and that in Anne Arundel County, sometimes soccer and lacrosse get all of the fanfare. "But still, everyone knows who Alex Rodriguez is," Pineau said.

Pineau has worked tirelessly to get the league off the ground. After a couple of decades traveling around as part of the Hubcaps rock and roll band, he settled in Edgewater and raised a family. He saw a void in baseball opportunities for older teens, including his own sons, and decided to take his money and his energy and put it to good use.

"I had put baseball on the back burner, but with my son, I had a reason to get involved," Pineau said.

He thought about becoming an umpire, but then decided to create this league.

Pineau points out that baseball is really a full-season game. "They start in March, end in November."

The group also works to get scholarships and scouts out to see their players' skills.

"We want RBI to be more than the sum of itself. If you are involved in this program, we want to market you to colleges and scholarships," Pineau said. 

Although the league has an open door policy for accepting players, Pineau noted that "by the time you are 16 or 17 years old, you're playing advanced ball. It can be a dangerous game. It's professional speeds. It has a lot to do with ability and experience, and ball players don't have any padding except for a glove."

He said that above all else, they want players to be safe and their well-being and welfare managed. "Nothing else matters more than that."

The games are typically played at Riva Park or field on Generals Highway.

The league is in its second year. Players last season played 20 games in all.

In the end, Pineau said that the reason for the league was to give kids a chance to play, not only to build their skills, but also to keep them out of trouble. 

"I don’t want to have look another parent in the eye and say, he's 16 years old, and he should have been playing baseball."