Encinitas Little League

Established in 1957, just 18 years after Little League baseball was established nationally in 1939, makes LL one of the oldest Little League organizations in the country. The league has been an integral part of our community for over a half century, and thousands of boys and girls have learned baseball, sportsmanship and made great friends and memories through our program. What is now called Encin

itas Little League started as Northern San Dieguito Little League in 1957, with one diamond right next to Highway 101 near Moonlight Beach. From those humble beginnings, the league moved in 1959 to land donated by Mr. Paul Ecke on Saxony Road, roughly where the Magdalena Ecke YMCA fields now sit. Ecke donated the land at the request of some of our league founders, after they asked and on a handshake. Leo Mullen was a key founding member and is constantly remembered for his valuable contributions in making our league what it is today. When Northern San Dieguito moved to the appropriately named “Ecke Field” in 1959, there were two fields, a major and minor league field. When the fields moved, a Southern San Dieguito division was formed, for kids from “all the way” in Solana Beach. Former big leaguer Greg Minton played for us as a Southern player before pitching at San Dieguito. In approximately 1964, in a friendly parting of the ways, Solana Beach Little League was formed from our league. Northern San Dieguito was a dominant force in Little League baseball in the 1960's and 1970's, including numerous Area Tournament (the coastal leagues) championships and District 31 (north San Diego County) championships in 1960, 1961, 1962, 1965, 1968, 1972. The 1968 and 2012 Majors teams both earned District 31 and Section tournament titles before losing in the Divisional Tournament, one step short of the World Series qualifying Regional Tournament. NFL record holding kicker Tom Dempsey was one of many proud Encinitas baseball players growing up. In 1986, Encinitas National Little League was formed from our league to accommodate the continuing area growth in the eastern parts of what was now the City of Encinitas. We take great pride in our continuing good relationship with our friends in Encinitas National, including interleague play and co-hosting tournaments with them. ELL baseball continued to thrive in the 1990's and into the new century. In addition to Hank Blalock, another big leaguer, Cole Liniak, began his playing days in ELL. ELL continues to be a strong presence as an original member of District 31 and regularly enjoys solid post season performances in the Coast Cities, Tournament of Champions, and All Star Tournaments. Today, our league does its best to carry on the goal set forth in the League Constitution in 1957, to teach “the ideals of good sportsmanship, honesty, loyalty, courage and reverence” through supervised baseball. Here's to another great season and we hope you will join us!