KIT League

KIT League

The Kentucky-Illinois-Tennessee League (KIT League) is a summer collegiate wooden bat league. The league's name is formed from the initials of the states that originally hosted the first iteration of the KIT League. However, since the league's latest formation in 2004, the KIT League has not had any teams in Illinois and has had two teams in Missouri.

Players in the KIT League are unpaid collegiate players who join the league to gain experience and to prepare themselves for other leagues. To date, several players from the league have gone on to sign contracts with major league ball clubs.

In previous years, each team in the KIT league was limited to 22 players and three coaches, but the rosters of each team were expanded to a maximum of 24 players beginning with the 2009 season. The league also poses limits on the age of players and the number of veteran players permitted on each team.

The league's season consists of 50 games for each team and normally runs from the beginning of June to the end of July with play-offs taking place at the end of July and in early August. The 2009 season started on May 29.

For the 2009 season, the league was intended to expand to eight active teams with the addition of the Western Kentucky Mavericks. This would have given the league the ability to divide the eight teams into two divisions with Sikeston, Farmington, Union City and Fulton in the Western Division and Marion, Owensboro, Tradewater, and Mayfield (Western Kentucky) in the Eastern Division. However, due to the withdrawal of the Farmington team in April 2009, the league was reduced once again to six active teams for the 2009 season, with no divisions.