The Chico Heat is the name of two baseball teams that have operated in Chico, California. The first was a professional independent team operating in the Western Baseball League from 1997 to 2002, and the second team was an independent team operating as part of the summer collegiate wood bat league known as the Great West League, which began operations in 2014 and ceased operations in 2018. The team's title sponsor was Golden Valley Bank. Both teams were majority owned by Steve and Kathy Nettleton.
The Yuba-Sutter Gold Sox were a summer collegiate wood-bat baseball club based in Marysville, California, in the United States, that began as an independent professional team in 1995. They played their home games at Bryant Field, adjacent to Ellis Lake, in Marysville from 2002 to 2022. The team name was changed to the Marysville Gold Sox in 2010 to more particularly identify the city in which the team was located, but had since reverted to "Yuba-Sutter".
The New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL) is a 13-team collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league founded in 1993 and sanctioned by the NCAA and Major League Baseball. Each NECBL team plays an eight-week, 44-game schedule during June and July, with a playoff in early August. Like the Cape Cod Baseball League and other amateur leagues, the NECBL is a showcase for top college-level players, giving professional baseball scouts a chance to see prospective pros playing against each other. Along with the Cape Cod Baseball League, Northwoods League, and Coastal Plain League, it is considered one of the top summer leagues in the country and is a part of the National Alliance of College Summer Baseball. In 2019, the Collegiate Summer Baseball Register ranked the NECBL as the 2nd best collegiate summer baseball league, behind only the Cape Cod League.
Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operate from early June to early August. In contrast to college baseball, which allow aluminum or other composite baseball bats, players in these leagues use only wooden bats, hence the common nickname of these leagues as "wood-bat leagues". Collegiate summer leagues allow college baseball players the ability to compete using professional rules and equipment, giving them experience and allowing professional scouts the opportunity to observe players under such conditions.
Mervin Weldon Rettenmund is an American former professional baseball player and coach. He played in Major League Baseball as an outfielder from 1968 through 1980, most notably as a member of the Baltimore Orioles dynasty that won three consecutive American League pennants from 1969 to 1971 and, won the World Series in 1970. Rettenmund also won world championships as a player for the Cincinnati Reds and, as a coach for the Oakland Athletics.
Ken Wilson is an American sportscaster, known primarily for his many years as a play-by-play announcer of National Hockey League and Major League Baseball games.
The Amarillo Gold Sox was the name of an American minor league baseball franchise that represented the city of Amarillo, Texas, in the Class D West Texas–New Mexico League, the Class A Western League and the Double-A Texas League at various times between 1939 and 1982.
The Great Lakes Summer Collegiate League (GLSCL) is a collegiate summer baseball league in the Great Lakes region of the United States. It is affiliated with the National Alliance of College Summer Baseball and comprises teams with college baseball players from around North America. The league is sanctioned and supported by Major League Baseball. Players are not paid so as to maintain their NCAA eligibility, and the league follows NCAA rules. Many of the teams play in baseball stadiums that are normally occupied by college teams.
The West Coast League (WCL) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league founded in 2005, comprising teams from Washington, Oregon, British Columbia and Alberta. The WCL was previously named the West Coast Collegiate Baseball League (WCCBL), but in 2008 renamed as the West Coast League. The league is designed to develop college talent, and only current college-eligible players are allowed to participate. The West Coast League has produced dozens of professional players, including a number of major leaguers. League teams are operated similarly to professional minor-league teams. The WCL's season typically runs from early June through the middle of August.
The Pecos League of Professional Baseball Clubs is an independent professional baseball league headquartered in Houston, which operates in cities in desert mountain regions throughout California, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas. The league plays in cities that do not have Major League Baseball or Minor League Baseball teams and is not affiliated with either.
The Amarillo Thunderheads, formerly known as the Amarillo Sox, were a professional minor league baseball team based in Amarillo, Texas. They were members of the American Association of Independent Professional Baseball, an independent baseball league unaffiliated with Major League Baseball, and played their home games at Potter County Memorial Stadium.
The Martha's Vineyard Sharks is a collegiate summer baseball team based on Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts. It was a charter member of the Futures Collegiate Baseball League (FCBL), a wood-bat league comprising seven teams from New Hampshire to western Connecticut. The Sharks played in the FCBL from 2010 to 2018 before switching to the New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL), where they began playing in 2019. In 2019 the Sharks posted the best regular-season record in the league and won a best-of-three series against the Newport Gulls to win the Southern Division, but ultimately lost 2–0 in the NECBL Championship to the Keene Swamp Bats. The team's mascot is likely a reference to the film Jaws, which was filmed on Martha's Vineyard and made it a popular tourist destination.
The Medford Rogues are a collegiate wood bat baseball team based in Medford, Oregon. They are currently playing as an independent team. They begin play as an expansion team in the West Coast League in 2013, where they played from 2013 to 2015, and were founding members of the Great West League, where they played from 2016 to 2018, then were members of the Golden State Collegiate Baseball League from 2019 to 2021. They play their home games at Harry & David Field and were named after the former Class-D Far West League affiliate of the New York Giants that played from 1950 to 1951. They were the 2017 GWL Champions.
The Pacific Association of Professional Baseball Clubs was an independent baseball league based in Northern California. The league was founded in 2013 by four former North American League teams.
The Northern League is a collegiate summer baseball league consisting of teams in Indiana. It was named the Midwest Collegiate League (MCL) from 2010 to 2021.
The Portland Pickles are a collegiate woodbat baseball team based in Portland, Oregon. They play in the South Division of the West Coast League, a premier collegiate summer baseball league based in the Pacific Northwest and British Columbia. The Pickles play their home games at Walker Stadium in Portland's Lents Park.
The Sacramento Stealth were a collegiate woodbat baseball team based in Sacramento, California. They are charter members of the Great West League. They were owned by former Minor League Baseball and Japanese Baseball standout Leon Lee and were run by general manager Matt Lundgren. Their head coach was Larry Wolfe. The team played in the same city as the minor-league Sacramento River Cats of the Pacific Coast League, but share no affiliation, and the Sacramento Heat of the Golden State Collegiate Baseball League.
The Yuba City Bears were a summer collegiate baseball team based in Marysville, California, in the United States and representing Yuba City, California. They were a member of the Great West League, having been established in 2017, and had played their home games at Colusa Casino Stadium adjacent to Ellis Lake, in Marysville. They had shared the facilities with the Yuba-Sutter Gold Sox, but have since folded their GWL operations.
The Klamath Falls Gems were a collegiate wood bat baseball team based in Klamath Falls, Oregon. They began as an expansion team in the West Coast League in 2011 and played their home games at Kiger Stadium, which is also the home of the Oregon Tech Owls. They were named after the former Class-D Far West League affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies that played from 1948 to 1951. They previously played in the Golden State Collegiate Baseball League from 2016 to 2017 and were members of the Great West League, having joined that league in October 2017 and played during the 2018 season. They were without a league as the GWL suspended operations on October 4, 2018, and have eventually ceased operations themselves without notice. The owner Joe O'Connor was being given until December 31, 2018, to renew the lease or the team will be considered defunct. There was no response and the franchise was officially considered defunct.
The San Francisco Seals are a summer collegiate wood-bat club based in Alameda, California and represent the San Francisco Bay Area. Established in 1985, they joined the Great West League in 2017 having replaced the Yuba City Bears who went dormant the same day the Seals were announced as new members. The Seals play their home games at College of Alameda Stadium.
