Little League to prohibit 13-year-olds from play by 2018

Little League will change its age requirements for the 2018 season.

Starting in 2018, 13-year-olds will no longer be allowed to compete Little League baseball and softball, the Associated Press reported Thursday.

With the change, the age cutoff will be moved from its current date of April 30 to Aug. 31. For the 2016 and ’17 seasons, the April 30 cutoff will remain in place.

The decision will affect both boys and girls from tee-ball participants to senior league division players.

Little League spokesman Brian McClintock said the change was intended to afford children more opportunities to play with their classmates, as the new age requirements will be in line with most school cutoffs.

• Watch: Pennsylvania wins U.S. Little League title on walk-off single

McClintock added that the abundance of home runs hit by 13-year-olds this season was not responsible for the change.

In this year’s Little League World Series, 67 of the 209 participants were teenagers.

Japan captured the 2015 Little League World Series title, while North Carolina won this year’s Little League Softball World Series.

- Kayla Lombardo