Jun 22, 2026 By John Sacco 5 min read

Editor’s note: This is part of a series celebrating the 75th anniversary of PONY Baseball and Softball, leading up to the Pony League World Series in August.

Truly, PONY Baseball was created just as a Washington thing.

But the foundation lent itself to growth. The excitement PONY’s energy brought locally caught on regionally and nationally, and now it’s an international entity.

What has spawned are leagues of certain age groups that continue to amaze seven decades after the inception.

Much of PONY Baseball’s success goes back to the origins.

“Well, it is does, and it was also a great jump start, at least in the Tri-County area, and soon after well beyond that,” said Leo Trich, who would eventually become PONY’s commissioner. “Let’s say that to begin with, the Observer-Reporter newspaper was newspaper of the day in Washington County. With founder and sports editor Lew Hays writing about the league, it wetted the appetite of other communities such as Canonsburg and in the Mon Valley. It gave a natural opportunity to kids for a place to play after a Little League.

“And then as it went on, Lew was surrounded by more people who liked baseball. I think that was a big help, too. He knew the people who surrounded and supported him were people who could also help in his effort. Certainly, beyond all the great people in our local area — who in their own right loved helping young kids – Lew was able to surround himself with good people outside of the area.”

From the beginning, PONY grew and continues to do so. It has participants between the ages of 5 and 19 playing baseball and softball around the world.

PONY Baseball, Inc. is the corporate name under which Shetland League, Pinto League, Mustang League, Bronco League, Pony League, Colt League and Palomino League are operated in baseball and softball.

PONY Baseball and Softball began with the organization of the Pony League in Washington in the summer of 1951. It was a transition league for 13- and 14-year-old players designed for the graduates of Little League baseball. The growth of Pony League – primarily by word of mouth – was quick. According to a handful of media accounts, by the end of the 1952 season, the original six teams in Pennsylvania were joined by 505 others in 106 leagues across the country. A national tournament was conducted and the first Pony League World Series was held that year.

The timeline:

• 1950s-60s: Rapid expansion led to the creation of additional age divisions to cover ages 5 through 18, including Bronco (11-12), Mustang (9-10) and Colt (15-16).

• International growth: By 1959, the league included international teams, with Monterrey, Mexico, participating early on.

So it goes that in 1953, John Laslo, longtime mayor of Martin’s Ferry, Ohio, visited with Hays and discussed formation of a league like Pony League for 15- and 16-year-old players. The purpose was to allow players in that age bracket to compete with players of similar experience in their first years on the regulation field. Laslo guided the development of Colt League, and in late 1959, Pony League and Colt League were merged into a single organization.

Bronco League, for 11- and 12-year-old players, was organized in 1961 to permit players of this age to play the complete game of baseball. With Colt League using the regulation diamond with 90-foot basepaths, Pony League uses a diamond with 80-foot basepaths as a transition between the regulation diamond and the 70-foot diamond used in Bronco League.

In 1970, Mustang League was developed in Fort Worth, Texas, using a diamond with 60-foot basepaths, to provide an organizational structure in leagues for beginning players, nine- and 10-year-olds. For communities with players of seven and eight years of age, rules and emblems were developed for Pinto League, an elementary form of baseball.

Thoroughbred League was organized in the Tampa, Fla., area and became a part of PONY Baseball in 1973, providing playing opportunities for players from 17 through 20 years of age who had not entered professional play and who maintained a desire to participate in a community baseball program.

In 1977, Thoroughbred League age limits were expanded to include 21-year-old players, and Palomino League was organized for players 17 and 18. The Thorobred League was discontinued as a Pony program in 1984.

Shetland League, an instructional program for 5- and 6-year-olds, was formally adopted by PONY for the 1990 season with rules based on the experiences of a number of league organizations that had conducted play in this age group for several years.

One of the most significant additions came in 1977 when girls softball leagues began.

While females were open to play in the baseball leagues, having softball was a significant step forward for the organization.

According to the book “Pony Tales & Diamond Dust,” experience soon indicated the vast majority of girls preferred to play softball with other girls. At the time, many of the local baseball organizations were trying to provide programs for the girls and the desire to retain their affiliation with a single national organization led the way for the involvement of PONY Baseball into girls softball.”

Said Frank Zebrasky, who played and coached PONY Baseball and played on Washington’s Thoroughbred World Series team in 1981, “Pony baseball has and is serving its purpose. It’s done a great deal of good, and I don’t want to say it’s a shame that it took so long to be in a national spotlight, but now that it is in the national spotlight, that’s pretty cool.”