USA Softball Mourns the Loss of Junior Olympic

Commissioner of Massachusetts, Walter Babcock 

USA Softball Junior Olympic Commissioner of Massachusetts, Walter Babcock, passed away at the age of 61 on Tuesday, April 8.  

Born in Everett, Mass., on Dec. 31, 1963, Babcock is survived by his wife and best friend of over 35 years, Ellen, their three children – Chelsie, Christopher and Sara – and one grandchild, Rae Rose. He was also a dog father to Yogi and Milo.

A dedicated member of USA Softball for 11 years, Babcock had a passion for sports administration and coaching high school. He served as the assistant softball coach of Wilmington High School from 2008-2024, also helping students reach their goals of becoming collegiate athletes during his time as a coach for the Polar Crush Junior Olympic Softball Team.

He also worked at Rockwell Collins Inc. for 27 years after graduating from Northeastern University with a degree in electrical engineering. Babcock also graduated high school from Malden Catholic.

When he wasn’t coaching, Babcock spent time with his family on the beach in Maine and loved spending time celebrating traditions and holidays while being with friends. He was diagnosed with cancer in December of 2023, fighting a brave battle.

In leu of flowers, donations can be made in his name to the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute as well as the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation. To plan trees in his memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.

2025 State Championships Are Back!

Our 2025 State Championship events are back and open to all age divisions. We are looking to bring these events back in a traditional weekend tournament format but there will be nothing traditional about what we have in store for the teams planning to participate. We plan to release more information in the next few weeks so be on the lookout and get your team signed up today!

10U State Championship ~~~ 12U State Championship ~~~ May 16th, 2025

14U State Championship ~~~ 16U State Championship ~~~ 18U State Championship ~~~June 27th, 2025

Travel Team Roster Signing & Approval

Here is the process to create your team’s roster and get it approved. After you create your team’s roster on Register USA Softball, please print your roster and have your parents/guardians sign the waiver on the back page. After this please email the roster to roster.usasoftballofma@gmail.com. Please allow 48 to 72 hours for us to review, approve, sign, and reply with your approved roster(s). All roster questions should be directed to this email address. Roster(s) sent directly to any state commissioners will not be approved/signed.

Travel Team Handbook

This handbook will help teams walk through the process of creating a travel team, insurance information, classification of teams, and other helpful information. Please click the following link to access the handbook - Travel Team Handbook

Tournament Director Information

We strongly recommend that all organizations who are hosting USA Softball of Massachusetts sanctioned tournaments events, review our Local Tournament Rules & Policies located on our USA Softball of Ma website. This page will also have a list of A, B, & C classified specific rules for each age/class division. If you have any questions, please contact Peter Fernandes or Larry Miller.

Local Tournament Umpire Requirements

Due to the continuous reduction in umpire numbers throughout the country, USA Softball of Massachusetts has made the decision that all USA Softball of Massachusetts sanctioned local tournaments will be allowed to use one umpire for all pool play games & elimination games. The only exception will be semi-finals and championship games, these games will need to have two umpires.

This decision was not made lightly. Our focus needs to be on preserving our current umpire numbers and having umpires working 5/6 games a day just can’t be sustained. We hope in the near future we can return to multiple umpire games but as of now this will be the norm until further notice.

If you have any questions, comments, or concerns please feel free to contact our area commissioners Peter Fernandes, Larry Miller or our state commissioner Phil McElroy.

CONNECT WITH USA SOFTBALL OF MASSACHUSETTS