Baseball players who had a few days off to celebrate the end of the spring semester will return to the field this week for the Central Carolina Scholastic Summer League.

CCSSL teams play on Mondays, Tuesday and Thursdays, playing in the late afternoons to help the players retain summer jobs, and keeping the weekends free.

Players, especially pitchers, are usually limited to three innings of play per game.

"I really like this league," East Chapel Hill coach Phil Woodell said. "This league gives our younger guys more opportunities to play, and I firmly believe the only way to get better is to play."

Chapel Hill and Orange again will play in the CCSSL’s Northwest Division, which again includes Northwest Guilford and Northern Durham. This year, the division includes Cary Panther Creek, Holly Springs and Voyager Academy.

Joining a league designed for underclassmen, many getting their first starts for a high school team, Voyager could be especially formidable. The Vikings entered N.C. High School Athletic Association play for the first time this school year, without any juniors or seniors, and still reached the 1A state championship baseball series.

Carrboro, which this summer is sending some players for the first time ever into Junior Legion ball, will field only a junior team in the CCSSL. East Chapel Hill, which sent four players onto the Junior Legion team — will play in a new "Senior Team Only" Division in the CCSSL, comprising Raleigh Athens Drive, Cary, Cary Independent, East, Southern Durham, Southern Vance and Wake Forest-Rolesville.

"If our guys can play Legion ball, then I say ’go for it.’ They’ll face better competition, and that helps them get better," Woodell said. "And it opens up more spots for guys to pay in the Summer League.

"Before this league started, we’d have four to five guys, max, playing over the summer. Now we have 24, 25 playing. That’s got to make you better."

Woodell noted that pitcher Max Hoffman, infielders Josh Baldwin and Henry Branson and outfielder Alex Moore all stepped up their play in the 2011 summer season, and four became team leaders this spring and won all-conference honors for the PAC-6 champions.

Changes in Junior Legion rules also helped expand the CCSSL’s numbers. Previously, Junior Legion play began as soon as the NCHSAA varsity season ended. This year, it couldn’t begin until after high school graduations — the same as the Scholastic League — and some coaches opted to play with more players in the CCSSL than the more selective American Legion ball.

After starting with 22 Triangle-area teams 2006, the league had 66 teams in 2011. This year, it’ll have 77 teams in 10 divisions that stretch from Greensboro to Wilmington, and from Scotland and Richmond counties to Washington and Wilson.

Play begins Monday, with Cedar Ridge at Panther Creek, Chapel Hill at Orange and Cary Independent at East Chapel Hill. The same teams pair off Tuesday, switching to the other team’s home field.

Thursday, Cedar Ridge will play at Voyager, Chapel Hill at Northwest Guilford, Holly Springs at Orange and East Chapel Hill at Cary High.