2024 Prospect League season | |
---|---|
League | Prospect League |
Sport | Baseball |
Duration | May 28 – July 31 (Playoffs: August 1 – August 8) |
Number of games | 60 (540 games in total) |
Number of teams | 18 |
Northeast Division | |
League champions | Chillicothe Paints |
Central Division | |
League champions | Terre Haute Rex |
Northwest Division | |
League champions | Illinois Valley Pistol Shrimp |
South Division | |
League champions | Thrillville Thrillbillies |
Prospect League Championship | |
Champions | Illinois Valley Pistol Shrimp |
Runners-up | Terre Haute Rex |
Finals MVP | Jared Herzog |
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.
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]
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]
Pos | Team | G | W | L | Pct. | GB |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | y – Chillicothe Paints | 29 | 19 | 10 | .655 | -- |
2 | Lafayette Aviators | 27 | 14 | 13 | .519 | 4.0 |
3 | x – Johnstown Mill Rats | 29 | 13 | 16 | .448 | 6.0 |
4 | Champion City Kings | 29 | 7 | 22 | .241 | 12.0 |
Pos | Team | G | W | L | Pct. | GB |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | x – Danville Dans | 30 | 17 | 13 | .567 | -- |
2 | x – Terre Haute Rex | 28 | 15 | 13 | .536 | 1.0 |
3 | Normal CornBelters | 29 | 14 | 15 | .483 | 2.5 |
4 | Full Count Rhythm | 28 | 12 | 16 | .429 | 4.0 |
5 | Dubois County Bombers | 29 | 12 | 17 | .414 | 4.5 |
Pos | Team | G | W | L | Pct. | GB |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | x – Illinois Valley Pistol Shrimp | 26 | 17 | 9 | .654 | -- |
2 | x – Clinton LumberKings | 26 | 15 | 11 | .577 | 2.0 |
3 | Springfield Lucky Horseshoes | 26 | 8 | 18 | .308 | 9.0 |
4 | Burlington Bees | 29 | 6 | 23 | .207 | 12.5 |
Pos | Team | G | W | L | Pct. | GB |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | x – Thrillville Thrillbillies | 27 | 21 | 6 | .778 | -- |
2 | Jackson Rockabillys | 27 | 17 | 10 | .630 | 4.0 |
3 | O'Fallon Hoots | 28 | 17 | 11 | .607 | 4.5 |
4 | Alton River Dragons | 26 | 13 | 13 | .500 | 7.5 |
5 | x – Cape Catfish | 29 | 14 | 15 | .483 | 8.0 |
Pos | Team | G | W | L | Pct. | GB |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | y – Chillicothe Paints | 27 | 17 | 10 | .630 | -- |
2 | x – Johnstown Mill Rats | 27 | 13 | 14 | .481 | 4.0 |
3 | Lafayette Aviators | 29 | 12 | 17 | .414 | 6.0 |
4 | Champion City Kings | 27 | 11 | 16 | .407 | 6.0 |
Pos | Team | G | W | L | Pct. | GB |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | x – Terre Haute Rex | 27 | 17 | 10 | .630 | -- |
2 | Normal CornBelters | 26 | 14 | 12 | .538 | 2.5 |
3 | x – Danville Dans | 26 | 13 | 13 | .500 | 3.5 |
4 | Full Count Rhythm | 27 | 13 | 14 | .481 | 4.0 |
5 | Dubois County Bombers | 25 | 7 | 18 | .280 | 9.0 |
Pos | Team | G | W | L | Pct. | GB |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | x – Clinton LumberKings | 29 | 19 | 10 | .655 | -- |
2 | x – Illinois Valley Pistol Shrimp | 30 | 18 | 12 | .600 | 1.5 |
3 | Springfield Lucky Horseshoes | 29 | 16 | 13 | .552 | 3.0 |
4 | Burlington Bees | 27 | 11 | 16 | .407 | 7.0 |
Pos | Team | G | W | L | Pct. | GB |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | x – Cape Catfish | 27 | 17 | 10 | .630 | -- |
2 | Jackson Rockabillys | 28 | 16 | 12 | .571 | 1.5 |
3 | O'Fallon Hoots | 28 | 12 | 16 | .429 | 5.5 |
4 | Alton River Dragons | 27 | 11 | 16 | .407 | 6.0 |
5 | x – Thrillville Thrillbillies | 28 | 10 | 18 | .357 | 7.5 |
Pos | Team | G | W | L | Pct. | GB |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | y – Chillicothe Paints | 56 | 36 | 20 | .643 | -- |
2 | Lafayette Aviators | 56 | 26 | 30 | .464 | 10.0 |
3 | x – Johnstown Mill Rats | 56 | 26 | 30 | .464 | 10.0 |
4 | Champion City Kings | 56 | 18 | 38 | .321 | 18.0 |
Pos | Team | G | W | L | Pct. | GB |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | x – Terre Haute Rex | 55 | 32 | 23 | .582 | -- |
2 | x – Danville Dans | 56 | 30 | 26 | .536 | 2.5 |
3 | Normal CornBelters | 55 | 28 | 27 | .509 | 4.0 |
4 | Full Count Rhythm | 55 | 25 | 30 | .455 | 7.0 |
5 | Dubois County Bombers | 54 | 19 | 35 | .352 | 12.5 |
Pos | Team | G | W | L | Pct. | GB |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | x – Illinois Valley Pistol Shrimp | 56 | 35 | 21 | .625 | -- |
2 | x – Clinton LumberKings | 55 | 34 | 21 | .618 | 0.5 |
3 | Springfield Lucky Horseshoes | 55 | 24 | 31 | .436 | 10.5 |
4 | Burlington Bees | 56 | 17 | 39 | .304 | 18.0 |
Pos | Team | G | W | L | Pct. | GB |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Jackson Rockabillys | 55 | 33 | 22 | .600 | -- |
2 | x – Thrillville Thrillbillies | 55 | 31 | 24 | .564 | 2.0 |
3 | x – Cape Catfish | 56 | 31 | 25 | .554 | 2.5 |
4 | O'Fallon Hoots | 56 | 29 | 27 | .518 | 4.5 |
5 | Alton River Dragons | 53 | 24 | 29 | .453 | 8.0 |
Stat | Player | Team | Total |
---|---|---|---|
HR | Gabe Wright, Shane Lewis | Terre Haute Rex, Lafayette Aviators | 9 |
AVG | Alec Gonzalez | Lafayette Aviators | .400 |
RBIs | Jaison Andujar | Springfield Lucky Horseshoes | 51 |
SB | Lane Crowden, Jimmy Koza | Cape Catfish, Springfield Lucky Horseshoes | 46 |
Stat | Player | Team | Total |
---|---|---|---|
W | Joshua Mauney, Trey Watson | Springfield Lucky Horseshoes, Jackson Rockabillys | 6 |
ERA | Trey Watson | Jackson Rockabillys | 3.21 |
SO | Gunnar Brown | Danville Dans | 70 |
SV | Jaxson Lucas | Jackson Rockabillys | 13 |
Eastern Conference
| Western Conference
|
Award [8] | Player | Team |
---|---|---|
Most Valuable Player | TBD | TBD |
Pro Prospect of the Year | Eric Colaco | Chillicothe Paints |
Pitcher of the Year | Ean DiPasquale | Clinton LumberKings |
Relief Pitcher of the Year | Jaxson Lucas | Jackson Rockabillys |
Manager of the Year | John Jakiemiec | Illinois Valley Pistol Shrimp |
Social Media of the Year | N/A | TBD |
Broadcaster of the Year | TBD | TBD |
Ballpark Experience of the Year | N/A | TBD |
PLTV Broadcast of the Year | N/A | TBD |
Executive of the Year | TBD | TBD |
Organization of the Year | N/A | TBD |
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.
Division Championship Round | Conference Championship Round | Prospect League Championship Series (best-of-three) | ||||||||||||||
Chillicothe Paints | 11 | |||||||||||||||
Johnstown Mill Rats | 10 | |||||||||||||||
Chillicothe Paints | 2 | |||||||||||||||
↑ Northeast / ↓ Central | ||||||||||||||||
Terre Haute Rex | 4 | |||||||||||||||
Danville Dans | 3 | |||||||||||||||
Terre Haute Rex | 10 | |||||||||||||||
Terre Haute Rex | 8 | 2 | X | |||||||||||||
↑ Eastern / ↓ Western | ||||||||||||||||
Illinois Valley Pistol Shrimp | 13 | 4 | X | |||||||||||||
Illinois Valley Pistol Shrimp | 3 | |||||||||||||||
Clinton LumberKings | 0 | |||||||||||||||
Illinois Valley Pistol Shrimp | 11 | |||||||||||||||
↑ Northwest / ↓ South | ||||||||||||||||
Thrillville Thrillbillies | 5 | |||||||||||||||
Thrillville Thrillbillies | 13 | |||||||||||||||
Cape Catfish | 6 |
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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