The decision about how to group players for competition remains one of the most controversial of all issues for youth sport leagues. The most common policy is to adhere to strict age groupings in order to promote the most balanced competition among players. However, a conflicting approach is to allow talent to “seek its own level” by permitting a wider range of player ages within the same league if younger players appear to have the ability to compete against their older counterparts. Historically, chartered Little League Baseball programs have supported the latter policy (Little League Baseball, 2004). Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the playing experiences and offensive performances of seven “talented” 10-yr. old baseball players who were allowed to play in a league where the remaining players were 11 and 12-yr.-olds (n=113). The seven 10-yr. old players in this study were drafted onto teams from a pool of 81 10-yr. olds who tried out at the beginning of the season. Therefore, based on the judgment of coaches, the 10-yr. olds were deemed able to successfully compete against 11 and 12-yr. olds throughout an 18 game schedule. Data for the study were obtained from scorebooks kept by scorekeepers who attended a mandatory clinic prior to the start of the season. The data were analyzed by t tests, ANOVA and chi-square with the .05 level used to determine statistical significance. Results indicated that 10-yr. olds received significantly less playing time than 11 and 12-yr. olds. They started only 32% of the games, played in only 59% of the innings and received the league-mandated minimum play in 63% of the games. When 10-yr. olds did play, they were far more likely to be in the outfield than 11 and 12 yr.-olds and they pitched only 2% of the innings played during the season. Offensively, 10-yr. olds were clearly overmatched. Their batting average (.187), on base percentage (43%) and percentage of batted balls put into play (37%) were significantly lower than those of the older players while their percentage of strikeouts (38%) was much higher. Among the most important implications of the results are that strict age groupings are the most developmentally appropriate way (NASPE, 2004) to structure youth leagues, regardless of the perceived talent level of younger players.Keyword(s): middle school issues, performance, youth sports