South Kingstown is a town in, and the county seat of, Washington County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 31,931 at the 2020 census. South Kingstown is the second largest town in Rhode Island by total geographic area, behind New Shoreham, and the third largest town in Rhode Island by geographic land area, behind Exeter and Coventry.
Dennis Mark Malaska is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in 2003 and the Boston Red Sox in 2004 in Major League Baseball. Malaska grew up on the south side of Youngstown, Ohio. He attended Cardinal Mooney High School where he earned three varsity letters in both baseball and basketball, earned All-Steel Valley honors in both sports, and was later inducted into the school's athletic Hall of Fame. Malaska was offered several athletic scholarships in both sports as well as several academic scholarships, but chose to continue his baseball career at The University of Akron.
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.
Jack Leggett is a retired American head college baseball coach. He was recently the head coach of the Clemson Tigers from 1994 to 2015. Under Leggett, the Tigers reached the College World Series six times. As of the end of the 2012 season, he had a career record of 1,224–694–1, with seven conference tournament titles and 23 NCAA tournament appearances.
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.
Bob Bellemore is a known presence in Rhode Island's ice hockey and baseball communities. He is a former standout goaltender and baseball player for Providence College in the National Collegiate Athletic Association. He has also served as the goaltending coach for the National Hockey League's New Jersey Devils.
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 Norwich Sea Unicorns are a baseball team located in Norwich, Connecticut. From 2010 to 2020, they were members of Minor League Baseball's New York–Penn League (NYPL) as the Class A Short Season affiliate of the Detroit Tigers. They play their home games at Senator Thomas J. Dodd Memorial Stadium. They were previously known as the Connecticut Tigers from 2010 to 2019. With Major League Baseball's reorganization of the minor leagues after the 2020 season, Norwich was not selected to continue in affiliated baseball. Starting with the 2021 season, Norwich plays in the Futures Collegiate Baseball League.
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 Futures Collegiate Baseball League (FCBL) is an eight-team collegiate summer baseball league. It has four franchises in Massachusetts, two in Connecticut, and one each in New Hampshire and Vermont.
The Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League (PGCBL) is a 16-team collegiate summer baseball league founded in 2010. As of 2022, all teams are within New York (state). All players in the league must have NCAA eligibility remaining in order to participate. Players are not paid so as to maintain their college eligibility. Each team plays an eight-week, 48 game schedule from June to August with playoffs in early August.
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 2012 NCAA Division I baseball season, play of college baseball in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division I level, began on February 17, 2012. The season progressed through the regular season, many conference tournaments and championship series, and concluded with the 2012 NCAA Division I baseball tournament and 2012 College World Series. The College World Series, consisting of the eight remaining teams in the NCAA tournament and held annually in Omaha, Nebraska, at TD Ameritrade Park concluded on June 25, 2012 with the final game of the best of three championship series. Arizona defeated two-time defending champion South Carolina two games to none to claim their fourth championship.
The 2013 NCAA Division I baseball season, play of college baseball in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division I level, began on February 15, 2013. The season progressed through the regular season, many conference tournaments and championship series, and concluded with the 2013 NCAA Division I baseball tournament and 2013 College World Series. The College World Series, consisting of the eight remaining teams in the NCAA tournament and held annually in Omaha, Nebraska, at TD Ameritrade Park concluded on June 25, 2013 with the final game of the best of three championship series. UCLA defeated Mississippi State two games to none to claim their first championship.
The Plymouth Pilgrims were a collegiate summer baseball team based in Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States. The team, a member of the New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL), played its home games at Forges Field in Plymouth.
Thomas James Murphy Jr. is an American professional baseball catcher who is a free agent. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Colorado Rockies and Seattle Mariners. Prior to playing professionally, Murphy played college baseball for the University at Buffalo.
The Valley Blue Sox are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Holyoke, Massachusetts. The team, a member of the New England Collegiate Baseball League, plays its home games at Mackenzie Stadium. The Blue Sox were founded in 2001 as the Concord Quarry Dogs but moved following the 2007 season to Holyoke to fill the void left by the departure of the Holyoke Giants to Lynn, Massachusetts. In 2017, the team won its first NECBL championship against the Ocean State Waves.
There have been numerous professional baseball teams in Connecticut since the late 1800s. Most have been minor league teams, however, some early major league teams played in Connecticut. The last major league team was the Hartford Dark Blues, which played its final season in Hartford as a charter member of the newly-established modern National League in 1876.
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.
