Little League Baseball has approved the creation of a new division for 11- to 13-year-olds which will begin play in 2013.
Featuring a pitching distance of 50 feet and base paths of 70 feet, the new baseball division, which does not yet have a name, will serve as a bridge between the current "Little League" size field
(46-foot pitching distance, 60-foot base paths) and a standard baseball
diamond with 60.5-foot pitching and 90-foot base paths. It will include postseason tournament opportunities, including a World Series. 
It is the first new division of play in Little League since 1999, when Junior League Softball was added to the list of 12 current programs which are part of the Little League International Tournament.
Little League International is now preparing rules and regulations for regular season and tournament play. More information on this new division, including the site for its first World Series in August 2013, will be released in coming months. [Update: In August 2012, LLI announced that Livermore, California had been selected as the site for the inaugural Word Series for the new division.]
"We want to thank all of the volunteers in our leagues and districts who participated in the 50-70 Pilot Program over the past two seasons," Patrick Wilson, Senior Vice President of Operations and Program Development, said.
"The input and opinions we received from them was invaluable in crafting the new division of play. We are pleased to be able to offer this new option to our local leagues around the world."
Little League Baseball and Softball are played by more than 2.5 million boys and girls ages 4 to 18 in 80 countries.
Source: Little League Baseball
Updated September 12, 2012
