Sonora Pilots | |
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Information | |
League | Arizona Winter League (2006–2008, 2011) (International) |
Location | Yuma, Arizona |
Ballpark | Desert Sun Stadium (Yuma, Arizona) |
Year founded | 2006 |
League championships | 0 |
Division championships | 0 |
Former name(s) |
|
Colors | Blue, White, Red and Grey |
Ownership | Arizona Winter League |
Website | www |
The Sonora Pilots are a professional independent baseball team based in Yuma, Arizona and represent Sonora, Mexico. They play in the International Division of the developmental Arizona Winter League, a short-season instructional winter league sanctioned by the North American League and they play their home games at Desert Sun Stadium in Yuma, along with the Canada Miners, San Diego Surf Dawgs and Yuma Scorpions. They are not affiliated with Major League Baseball or Minor League Baseball.
The team started as the Snow Falcons and they used the logo and uniforms of the inactive Surprise Fightin' Falcons team of the now-defunct Golden Baseball League. [1] They were initially managed by Benny Castillo during their original 2-year AWL run. The team did not return after two seasons in November 2008 and were replaced by Team Canada.
On July 10, 2009, they were announced as set to play in 2010 in the Arizona Winter League, again playing at Desert Sun Stadium. [2] However, an October 23, 2009, update does not have them coming back to the AWL after all. They could be invited to play in another league in the future. On January 5, 2011, they were announced to be returning to play in the International Division for the 2011 season. [3]
Arizona Winter League:
Season | W | L | Win % | Place | Playoff |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2007 | 6 | 15 | .286 | 4th | Did not qualify. |
2008 | 5 | 14 | .263 | 6th | Did not qualify. |
The Golden Baseball League was an independent baseball league based in San Ramon, California, with teams located in the western United States, western Canada and northwest Mexico.
The San Diego Surf Dawgs are an independent professional baseball team representing San Diego, California, that played for two seasons in the Golden Baseball League, based out of San Ramon, California, and then later in the short-season instructional Arizona Winter League and Arizona Summer League, based out of Yuma, Arizona, which was not affiliated with either Major League Baseball or Minor League Baseball. They were owned by Diamond Sports & Entertainment, previous owners of the GBL and primary investors in the North American League. In November 2022, it was announced the Surf Dawgs franchise will be revived as part of a west coast expansion of the Federal Baseball League.
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Team Canada is a professional independent baseball team representing Canada. They play in the developmental Arizona Winter League and Arizona Summer League, short-season instructional leagues affiliated with the North American League. The team is owned by Diamond Sports & Entertainment and have played their home and away games since 2009 at Desert Sun Stadium in Yuma. They replaced the Sonora Pilots, who did not play in 2009 or 2010, yet the Pilots returned in 2011.
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