The Bristol Blues are a summer collegiate baseball team based in Bristol, Connecticut. It is a member of the New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL), a wood-bat league with a 44-game regular season that has six franchises in Massachusetts and two each in New Hampshire and Connecticut. The team's home games are played at Muzzy Field in Bristol. [1]
The Bristol franchise was founded for the 2015 season by Elliot Scheiner, real estate owner and developer David Lindland, and entrepreneur Steve Lindland. [2]
In the team's first season it won the Futures Collegiate Baseball League's West Division. In the playoffs it won its quarterfinal and semifinal games, advancing to the best-of-three league championship series against the defending champion Worcester Bravehearts. The teams split the first two games and were tied after nine innings in the third, at Muzzy Field, but the Bravehearts scored two runs in the top of the tenth to repeat as champions. [3]
For the 2020 season, the Bristol Blues changed leagues, moving from the Futures Collegiate Baseball League to the New England Collegiate Baseball League. [4]
The New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL) is a 13-team collegiate summer baseball 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.
Muzzy Field is a stadium in Bristol, Connecticut adjacent to Rockwell Park. It has been in use since 1912 for both baseball and football. The brick-faced grandstand, with a capacity of 4,900 people, was built in 1939. It features a ring of tall pine trees that line the outside of the outfield wall and the grandstand.
The North Shore Navigators are a wooden-bat, collegiate summer baseball team based in Lynn, Massachusetts, playing in the Futures Collegiate Baseball League (FCBL). The team plays home games at Fraser Field in Lynn. The team is owned by Old School Sports Group, LLC.
Worcester, Massachusetts is home to minor league sports teams and NCAA Division 1 college and university sports, most notably The College of the Holy Cross. Other professional teams that have moved on from the city include the New England Blazers, a Major League Lacrosse team that played at the Worcester Centrum during the 1980s, the Bay State Bombardiers of the Continental Basketball Association, who played in the Worcester Memorial Auditorium from 1984 to 1986, the Worcester Ice Cats, an American Hockey League franchise and developmental team for the National Hockey League's St. Louis Blues who played in the DCU Center from 1994 to 2005, and the Worcester Sharks, an American Hockey League franchise and developmental team for the NHL's San Jose Sharks. Many historic and local sporting events have occurred in Worcester such as the first official Ryder Cup golf tournament at Worcester Country Club in 1927.
Fuessenich Park is a baseball field located in downtown Torrington, Connecticut, United States, with a capacity of 1,500 fans. It has twice been home to summer collegiate baseball league teams during their tenures in the city.
The Torrington Titans were a collegiate summer baseball team that played in the Futures Collegiate Baseball League (FCBL) of New England. They played their inaugural season in the Atlantic Collegiate Baseball League, a collegiate summer baseball league. After leading the ACBL in attendance in 2010, the team was sold to the Carminucci Sports Group (CSG), which transferred the team to the newly founded FCBL. The Titans played home games at Fuessenich Park in downtown Torrington.
The Mystic Schooners are a collegiate summer baseball team that operates in the Mystic, Connecticut region. The franchise is one of the two oldest franchises in the New England Collegiate Baseball League.
The Old Orchard Beach Raging Tide was a collegiate summer baseball team based in Old Orchard Beach, Maine. It was a member of the Futures Collegiate Baseball League (FCBL), a wood-bat league with a 56-game regular season comprising 10 teams from New Hampshire to western Connecticut. The team played its home games at The Ball Park.
The Futures Collegiate Baseball League (FCBL) is a seven-team collegiate summer baseball league. It has five franchises in Massachusetts and one each in Connecticut and New Hampshire. The league's 2020 season is scheduled to begin on July 2, with only six of its seven teams in operation.
The Seacoast Mavericks was a collegiate summer baseball team located in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. It was a charter member of the Futures Collegiate Baseball League (FCBL), a wood-bat league in New England. It suspended operation in 2017 pending completion of a sports complex in Dover, New Hampshire. However, in 2019, it abandoned its FCBL franchise.
The Nashua Silver Knights is a collegiate summer baseball team based in Nashua, New Hampshire. It is a charter member of the Futures Collegiate Baseball League (FCBL), a wood-bat league with a 56-game regular season comprising seven teams ranging from New Hampshire to western Connecticut. The team's home games are played at Holman Stadium in Nashua. The team is owned by John Creedon Jr, who also owns the Worcester Bravehearts.
The Wachusett Dirt Dawgs were a collegiate summer baseball team playing in the Futures Collegiate Baseball League of New England based in Leominster, Massachusetts. They played their home games at Historic Doyle Field in Leominster, Mass. 2012–2017. They were an expansion team for the FCBL and played their inaugural season in 2012.
The Pittsfield Suns are a summer collegiate baseball team based in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, USA, that plays in the Futures Collegiate Baseball League (FCBL) of New England. The team's home games are played at Wahconah Park in Pittsfield.
The 2011 FCBL season was the inaugural season of the Futures Collegiate Baseball League, a wood bat collegiate summer baseball league. The FCBL was created initially as expansion bids for the New England Collegiate Baseball League to put teams in Martha's Vineyard and Nashua, New Hampshire. When the NECBL declined to expand, the two separate organizations joined forces to create a separate league. The charter franchises included the Martha's Vineyard Sharks, Nashua Silver Knights, Seacoast Mavericks, and Torrington Titans. The season concluded with the Silver Knights defeating the Titans two games to none in the inaugural FCBL Championship Series.
The 2013 FCBL season was the third season of the Futures Collegiate Baseball League, a wood bat collegiate summer baseball league.
The Worcester Bravehearts are a summer collegiate baseball team based in Worcester, Massachusetts, USA, that plays in the Futures Collegiate Baseball League (FCBL) of New England starting in 2014. The team's home games are played at Hanover Insurance Park at Fitton Field in Worcester.
There have been numerous minor league baseball teams in Connecticut since the late 1800s.
The New Britain Bees are an American collegiate summer baseball team based in New Britain, Connecticut. They are a member of the Futures Collegiate Baseball League (FCBL), a wood-bat league with teams in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Connecticut. Founded in October 2015, the Bees played the 2016 to 2019 seasons as an independent professional baseball team in the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball. The Bees have played all their home games at New Britain Stadium, where they succeeded the New Britain Rock Cats, who played in the Eastern League before moving to Hartford, becoming the Hartford Yard Goats.
The Westfield Starfires are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Westfield, Massachusetts. They play in the Futures Collegiate Baseball League (FCBL), a wood-bat league with a 56-game regular season comprising seven teams from New Hampshire to western Connecticut. The team, owned by Don Moorhouse and Chris Thompson, plays its home games at Bullens Field in Westfield.
The 2014 FCBL season was the fourth season of the Futures Collegiate Baseball League, a wood bat collegiate summer baseball league.
team owners Elliot Scheiner, David Lindland, and Steve Lindland
