Du Quoin Baseball returning to PONY League this summer

Du Quoin Baseball, Inc. has made the decision to dump its affiliation with the Babe Ruth little league and join what is now called the Southwestern Illinois PONY (Protect Out Nation's Youth) League, an affordable solution that lessens the cost to the Du Quoin league and makes tournament scheduling easier.

Du Quoin Baseball, Inc. president Tim Davis said over the weekend the cost to join that league will be about $15 per team as compared to $50 per team for the Babe Ruth League.

More than 400 are participants in the summer program held in May, June and early July. Du Quoin belonged to the national PONY association three years ago, but as a subsidiary of the national organization, the Southwestern Illinois franchise is now more affordable.

Little league play in Du Quoin began in the 1950s as the Khoury League program, named for founder George Khoury.