2024 Prospect League season

Last updated
2024 Prospect League season
League Prospect League
Sport Baseball
DurationMay 28 July 31
(Playoffs: August 1 August 8)
Number of games60 (540 games in total)
Number of teams18
Northeast Division
Central Division
Northwest Division
South Division
Prospect League Championship
Seasons
 2023
2025 

The 2024 Prospect League season is the 15th season of collegiate summer baseball in the Prospect League, a collegiate summer baseball league in the Midwestern United States, since its creation in June 2009. There are 18 Prospect League teams, split evenly between Eastern and Western Conferences. These conferences are then split up between the Northeast, Central, Northwest, and South divisions.

Contents

The Chillicothe Paints entered the season as two-time defending champions, having defeated the Quincy Gems, two games to one, in the league's 2023 championship series. [1]

Season schedule

Despite reaching the Prospect League Championship in 2023, the Quincy Gems announced that they would no longer play at QU Stadium and would not return for the 2024 season. The Gems would seek relocation for any potential future seasons. [2] [3]

After the Gems announced they would not play in 2024, the league brought in two new teams for the season, the Dubois County Bombers and the Full Count Rhythm. [4] [5] For the Bombers, it would be their second stint in the league with the first one being from 2009 to 2012.

The 18 teams in the league are split evenly between two conferences Eastern and Western. These two conferences are then split up into four divisions, Northeast, Central, Northwest, and South.

The season will be played with a 60-game schedule, which is split between two halves, with the first half ending on June 30 and the second half ending on July 31. The first-half winners in each division will host the second-half winners in a one-game divisional championship round. (If the same team wins both halves, the team with the next-best second-half record makes the playoffs). [6]

Regular season standings

First half standings

Eastern Conference

Northeast Division Regular Season Standings
PosTeam G W L Pct. GB
1 Champion City Kings 000--
2 Chillicothe Paints 000--
3 Johnstown Mill Rats 000--
4 Lafayette Aviators 000--
Central Division Regular Season Standings
PosTeam G W L Pct. GB
1 Danville Dans 000--
2 Dubois County Bombers 000--
3 Full Count Rhythm 000--
4 Normal CornBelters 000--
5 Terre Haute Rex 000--

Western Conference

Northwest Division Regular Season Standings
PosTeam G W L Pct. GB
1 Burlington Bees 000--
2 Clinton LumberKings 000--
3 Illinois Valley Pistol Shrimp 000--
4 Springfield Lucky Horseshoes 000--
South Division Regular Season Standings
PosTeam G W L Pct. GB
1 Alton River Dragons 000--
2 Cape Catfish 000--
3 Jackson Rockabillys 000--
4 O'Fallon Hoots 000--
5 Thrillville Thrillbillies 000--

Second half standings

Eastern Conference

Northeast Division Regular Season Standings
PosTeam G W L Pct. GB
1 Champion City Kings 000--
2 Chillicothe Paints 000--
3 Johnstown Mill Rats 000--
4 Lafayette Aviators 000--
Central Division Regular Season Standings
PosTeam G W L Pct. GB
1 Danville Dans 000--
2 Dubois County Bombers 000--
3 Full Count Rhythm 000--
4 Normal CornBelters 000--
5 Terre Haute Rex 000--

Western Conference

Northwest Division Regular Season Standings
PosTeam G W L Pct. GB
1 Burlington Bees 000--
2 Clinton LumberKings 000--
3 Illinois Valley Pistol Shrimp 000--
4 Springfield Lucky Horseshoes 000--
South Division Regular Season Standings
PosTeam G W L Pct. GB
1 Alton River Dragons 000--
2 Cape Catfish 000--
3 Jackson Rockabillys 000--
4 O'Fallon Hoots 000--
5 Thrillville Thrillbillies 000--

Full season standings

Eastern Conference

Northeast Division Regular Season Standings
PosTeam G W L Pct. GB
1 Champion City Kings 000--
2 Chillicothe Paints 000--
3 Johnstown Mill Rats 000--
4 Lafayette Aviators 000--
Central Division Regular Season Standings
PosTeam G W L Pct. GB
1 Danville Dans 000--
2 Dubois County Bombers 000--
3 Full Count Rhythm 000--
4 Normal CornBelters 000--
5 Terre Haute Rex 000--

Western Conference

Northwest Division Regular Season Standings
PosTeam G W L Pct. GB
1 Burlington Bees 000--
2 Clinton LumberKings 000--
3 Illinois Valley Pistol Shrimp 000--
4 Springfield Lucky Horseshoes 000--
South Division Regular Season Standings
PosTeam G W L Pct. GB
1 Alton River Dragons 000--
2 Cape Catfish 000--
3 Jackson Rockabillys 000--
4 O'Fallon Hoots 000--
5 Thrillville Thrillbillies 000--
  • y – Clinched division
  • x – Clinched playoff spot

[7]

Statistical leaders

Hitting

StatPlayerTeamTotal
HR TBDTBD
AVG TBDTBD
H TBDTBD
RBIs TBDTBD
SB TBDTBD

Pitching

StatPlayerTeamTotal
W TBDTBD
ERA TBDTBD
SO TBDTBD
SV TBDTBD

Awards

All-star selections

End of year awards

AwardPlayerTeam
Most Valuable PlayerTBDTBD
Pro Prospect of the YearTBDTBD
Starting Pitcher of the YearTBDTBD
Relief Pitcher of the YearTBDTBD
Manager of the YearTBDTBD
Social Media of the YearTBDTBD
Broadcaster of the YearTBDTBD
Ballpark Experience of the YearTBDTBD
PLTV Broadcast of the YearTBDTBD
Executive of the YearTBDTBD
Organization of the YearTBDTBD

Playoffs

Format

The playoffs will begin with four winner-take-all division championships followed by two winner-take-all conference championships and will conclude with a best-of-three league championship series. The playoffs are tentatively slated to begin on August 1 and conclude on August 8.

Playoff bracket

Division Championship Round Conference Championship Round Prospect League Championship Series
(best-of-three)
           
 
 
 
↑ Northeast / ↓ Central
 
 
 
 
↑ Eastern / ↓ Western
 
 
 
 
↑ Northwest / ↓ South
 
 
 

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chillicothe Paints</span> Collegiate summer baseball team in Chillicothe, Ohio

The Chillicothe Paints are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Chillicothe, Ohio, in the United States. The team is a member of the summer collegiate Prospect League. The Paints previously played in the professional independent Frontier League from 1993 to 2008. The Paints play their home games at V.A. Memorial Stadium in Chillicothe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arizona Complex League</span> Rookie league in Minor League Baseball

The Arizona Complex League (ACL) is a rookie-level Minor League Baseball league that operates in and around Phoenix, Arizona, since 1988. Prior to 2021, it was known as the Arizona League (AZL). Along with the Florida Complex League (FCL), it forms the lowest rung on the North American minor-league ladder.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">V.A. Memorial Stadium</span>

V.A. Memorial Stadium is a baseball stadium located on the grounds of the Veterans Administration Hospital campus off of OH-104, three miles north of Chillicothe, Ohio. It is officially designated as building 244. The stadium is the home field of the Chillicothe Paints, a collegiate wooden bat baseball team in the Prospect League. Though primarily used for baseball, V.A. Memorial Stadium has been used for softball, soccer, and other non-sporting events.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Central Illinois Collegiate League</span>

The Central Illinois Collegiate League (CICL) was a collegiate wooden bat summer baseball league. It was composed of five teams from Illinois and Indiana. The CICL was founded in 1963 as a charter member of National Collegiate Athletic Association certified summer baseball. Although the NCAA dropped Summer baseball program in 2005, The CICL is one of ten summer collegiate baseball leagues affiliated with the National Association of Summer Collegiate Baseball (NASCB), which now takes over the duties of the NCAA and follows all NCAA requirements. The league was also is one of four summer college baseball leagues supported by Major League Baseball.

A split season is a schedule format implemented in a variety of sports leagues. The season is divided into two parts, with the winners of both halves playing each other at the end for the overall championship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Springfield Lucky Horseshoes</span> American collegiate summer baseball team

The Springfield Lucky Horseshoes are a collegiate summer league baseball team of the Prospect League. They play at Robin Roberts Stadium at Lanphier Park and are based in the city of Springfield, Illinois. The team was established in November 2007 as the Springfield Sliders and were an expansion franchise for the 2008 season. The Lucky Horseshoes and other collegiate summer leagues and teams exist to give top college players professional-like experience without affecting NCAA eligibility.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prospect League</span> United States collegiate summer baseball league

The Prospect League is a collegiate summer baseball league comprising teams of college players from North America and beyond. All players in the league must have NCAA eligibility remaining in order to participate. So as to maintain their college eligibility, players are not paid. Beginning in 2012, the league added four games to the season, making a total of 60 games per team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Danville Dans</span>

The Danville Dans are a collegiate summer league baseball team located in Danville, Illinois. The team plays in the Prospect League, which their former league, the NCAA-sanctioned Central Illinois Collegiate League, was absorbed into after the 2008 season.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Normal CornBelters</span> American collegiate summer baseball team

The Normal CornBelters are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Normal, Illinois, which is part of the Bloomington-Normal metropolitan area. The franchise was formerly a professional team, and was a member of the independent Frontier League, which is not affiliated with Major League Baseball.

The Terre Haute REX are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Terre Haute, Indiana. They are a member of the summer collegiate Prospect League.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Champion City Kings</span> American collegiate baseball team

The Champion City Kings are a college summer baseball team located in Springfield, Ohio. The Kings are a member of the East Division of the wood bat Prospect League and have been a member since 2013. The Kings play at Carleton Davidson Stadium, which is also the home of the NCAA DIII Wittenberg University Tigers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carolina Mudcats</span> Minor league baseball team

The Carolina Mudcats are a Minor League Baseball team of the Carolina League and the Single-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers. They are located in Zebulon, North Carolina, a suburb of Raleigh, and play their home games at Five County Stadium. "Mudcats" is Southern slang for catfish.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lafayette Aviators</span>

The Lafayette Aviators are a summer collegiate baseball team based in Lafayette, Indiana. They are a member of the Eastern Conference of the summer collegiate Prospect League. The Aviators play at Loeb Stadium in Columbian Park in Lafayette, which opened in May 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cape Catfish</span>

The Cape Catfish are a franchise of the Prospect League that plays in Cape Girardeau, Missouri.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Illinois Valley Pistol Shrimp</span> US collegiate summer baseball league team

The Illinois Valley Pistol Shrimp are a collegiate summer league baseball team in the Prospect League. They play at Veterans Memorial Park in Peru, Illinois, United States. The Pistol Shrimp formed in Lisle, Illinois, in late 2018 as an expansion franchise for the 2019 season, under the name DuPage Pistol Shrimp. They and other collegiate summer leagues and teams exist to give top college players professional-like experience without affecting NCAA eligibility.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">O'Fallon Hoots</span>

The O'Fallon Hoots are a collegiate summer league baseball team in the United States Prospect League. The team played the 2018 and 2019 seasons as the Hannibal Hoots, but only one of those seasons saw them use Hannibal, Missouri as their home; flooding of their stadium led the Hoots to play their 2019 home schedule in nearby Quincy, Illinois at the home stadium of the Quincy Gems. The Hoots formed in late 2017 and were an expansion franchise for the 2018 season. The Hoots and other collegiate summer leagues and teams exist to give top college players professional-like experience without affecting NCAA eligibility.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alton River Dragons</span> American collegiate baseball team

The Alton River Dragons are a collegiate summer baseball team located in Alton, Illinois. They were founded in 2020 and began play in 2021 as members of the Prospect League.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Johnstown Mill Rats</span> American collegiate baseball team

The Johnstown Mill Rats are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. They are a member of the East Conference of the summer collegiate Prospect League. The Mill Rats were founded in 2020 and began play at Point Stadium in 2021.

The 2022 Prospect League season was the 13th season of collegiate summer baseball in the Prospect League, a collegiate summer baseball league in the Midwestern United States, since its creation in June 2009. There are 16 Prospect League teams, split evenly between Eastern and Western Conferences. These conferences are then split up between the Ohio River Valley, Wabash River, Great River, and Prairie Land divisions.

References

  1. "Prospect League: Chillicothe Paints win 2nd straight title". advantagenews.com. August 14, 2023. Retrieved January 4, 2024.
  2. "Quincy Gems not returning next season; future beyond 2024 unclear". wgem.com. August 29, 2023. Retrieved January 4, 2024.
  3. "Owners say Gems won't play in Quincy during 2024 season, plan to move franchise to different city". muddyriversports.com. August 29, 2023. Retrieved January 4, 2024.
  4. "Dubois County Bombers join nationally renowned Prospect League in 2024". duboiscountyfreepress.com. September 21, 2023. Retrieved January 4, 2024.
  5. "Full Count Rhythm set to join Prospect League in 2024". mainstreetmediatn.com. September 20, 2023. Retrieved January 4, 2024.
  6. "Prospect League Announces 2024 Schedule". prospectleague.com. January 4, 2024. Retrieved January 4, 2024.
  7. "2024 Prospect League Standings". prospectleague.com. January 4, 2024. Retrieved January 4, 2024.