AABC vs. AAU Expanding on an earlier discussion

I was interested in the discussion on LL vs. AABC vs. Pony. I am also experiencing all of this for the first time. My son is older than his (9 next month) and playing LL (Minor A) but I find myself going over what other choices he has if he wants to keep progressing. The other local program (called Youth Baseball and has a pony division so I am assuming that it is the same thing that you all were talking about)has twice as many players who are supposedly better with rules more akin to "real" baseball.

I have 2 questions: First, by keeping 'em in LL too long, have you seen kids who have clearly fallen behind those other kids in Pony when it comes time to try out for HS?

OUR CONCERN: Who knows what he will do in 5 years but if he tries out for HS, the question is (which maybe every similarly situated parent asks): Did we put him in the best possible situations to succeed? or did we cheat him by making the wrong choices?

Second, since someone said that both LL and Pony were recreational leagues, maybe the real question is do I hurt his chances of moving on to HS ball by not putting him into the "competitive" leagues. Is the degree of coaching and competition there so much higher that in 5 years there is a noticeable difference in skill level?

Finally, is there USSS? aau and aabc in Orange County, CA? for 9 yr olds? or is that too young?

INFO ABOUT THE BOY: Because of his physical make-up and being lucky that his eye/hand coordination kicked in at an early age, he has an advantage now (which I suspect disappears over the years as the other kids catch up) and is probably good enough to compete with the best in his age group (my uncredentialed, wholly biased opinion).

If you were patient enough to read this post, thank you and your comments would be greatly appreciated.