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Isolated thunderstorms this evening. Skies will become partly cloudy after midnight. Low 59F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%..
Isolated thunderstorms this evening. Skies will become partly cloudy after midnight. Low 59F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%.
Updated: April 19, 2024 @ 5:53 pm
For smaller cities and towns across America, baseball has been part of the community fabric each summer for more than a century.
Each year, fans pour through the gates, looking for a little taste of the national pastime while enjoying popcorn, hot dogs and peanuts under the sunshine.
When Major League Baseball trimmed its number of affiliated Minor League teams for the 2021 season, it seemed the sport was shrinking.
In reality, options have increased in recent years through the expansion and popularity of amateur wood-bat leagues, stocked with collegiate players gauging their future prospects in the game they love.
In Georgia, the Carolinas and Virginia, at least seven of these leagues exist inside the footprint of MLB's Minor League system, which also has two levels of leagues in those same states.
From the wildly successful Savannah Bananas to the renamed Tri-City Chili Peppers in Colonial Heights, Virginia, to the brand-new Spartanburgers in Upstate South Carolina and everywhere in between, collegiate wood-bat baseball has become the new way to fill in the gaps of affiliated baseball and provide an outlet for fans of all ages and interest levels.
“Especially with not being able to go on trips, not being able to visit family, not being able to go on a vacation, everyone had had so much planned out in their life," Bananas president Jared Orton said. "I think with us, and then with other sports teams and events, we get to become that outlet for people to go out and do things together again, which is really powerful.”
The demand in some of these communities appears to be at an all-time high. General managers and ticket departments cite the 2020 pandemic, which forced almost all teams off the field for the year, as one of the biggest reasons for early interest in the 2021 season.
“I don't think there's a question that fans here in Asheboro and Randolph County are really excited to have the Copperheads back,” general manager Dennis Garcia said of his team, which has been a part of the Coastal Plain League since 1999.
“As evident in the last probably 30 days, I've been getting a lot of phone calls about when tickets are going on sale, how they can purchase tickets, season passes, things of that nature, and that's from the fans. So, it's been really kind of hectic, but also really kind of fun because of what we missed last year.”
After decades as the home to an affiliated minor-league team, Burlington Athletic Park welcomes a collegiate wood-bat franchise this summer.
Times-NewsBurlington, North Carolina, had affiliated Minor League Baseball for most of the past 80 years but is now part of a revamped Appalachian League, entering its first season as a MLB-sponsored collegiate wood-bat league.
The change of on-field product, from paid professionals to amateur athletes, has not been an early deterrent for the newly-named Sock Puppets.
“We have more season tickets sold than has ever been sold in Burlington baseball history, which I think is special, and that's nothing that we're doing,” general manager Anderson Rathbun said. “It's just fans are excited about what's going on here. We want to put energy back into the ball club and, at the end of the day, regardless of what level we're at, who our players are, what name’s on our chest, we want to be able to be the organization that provides our community with just an incredible summer experience.”
Burlington is the latest city to adjust to a different level of play on the field.
The gold standard for collegiate wood-bat baseball is in Savannah, where the Bananas are in their fifth year of existence after the city was home to Minor League Baseball since the 1920s.
Instead of shrinking in stature, the team has soared with its new parameters. The Bananas hold a variety of unique theme nights over the years, have experimented with rules of the game and even pressed on to hold games in 2020 with two other Georgia teams, as well as intrasquad scrimmages for as many fans as were allowed under pandemic gathering restrictions.
The Bananas have led the Coastal Plain League in attendance every year of their existence, including more than 110,000 fans for each of the past three full seasons.
“What we've, I think, proven is that if you do things better for the fans, the level of play really doesn't become as important as what are you doing for the people that are coming," Orton said. "What are you doing for that city? What are you doing for that community? How are you building a fan base?"
While Savannah still uses historic Grayson Stadium, which was built in the 1920s and renovated in 1941, longtime ballparks of the region are starting to compete against newer facilities. Four of the Coastal Plain League's current stadiums were built since 2008, and several others have had renovations.
In Asheboro, discussions have lasted for years about improvements to McCrary Park, which was built in 1946 and is shared by the Copperheads, the city's successful American Legion summer program, and Asheboro High School. Getting those changes made in order to provide more opportunities, and keep up with their competitors, is easier said than done.
“It’s been talked about for the last number of years,” Garcia said. “Things such as a new grandstand. Of course, turfing the outfield, new dugouts, things like better parking. That's all been discussed in the past three, four, five years. Like anything really good, it takes time.”
But until those plans are realized, teams aim to improve the things they can control. Like professional summer baseball, collegiate wood-bat leagues are seeing change. But they believe this new path will lead to success, in the place they have been all along.
“The beauty of what we're able to do is that we don't have the red tape of professional baseball, per se, in our players can really get engaged and involved with the fans and do the crazy stuff, and then show off a little bit and do the promotions," Orton said.
"We can break down that wall, which is really amazing in sports.”
David Kehrli is a sports reporter at the Burlington Times-News and USA Today Network. You can reach him at david.kehrli@thetimesnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @DavidKehrliTN. Subscribe to the Burlington Times-News here.
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Collegiate wood-bat baseball leagues have exploded in the past two decades, from a select few to opportunities at several levels for those hoping to stay in the sport and test their professional potential. Here's a list of leagues throughout Georgia, the Carolinas and Virginia.
Appalachian League (sponsored by MLB): Bluefield (WV), Bristol (TN), Burlington (NC), Danville (VA), Elizabethton (TN), Greeneville (TN), Johnson City (TN), Kingsport (TN), Princeton (WV), Pulaski (VA).
Carolina-Virginia College League: Fuquay-Varina, Raleigh, Tarboro, Wake Forest
Coastal Plain League: Asheboro (NC), Florence (SC), Forest City (NC), Hampton (VA), Holly Springs (NC), Lexington (SC), Macon (GA), Martinsville (VA), Morehead City (NC), Petersburg (VA), Savannah (GA), Spartanburg (SC), Thomasville (NC), Wilmington (NC), Wilson (NC).
Old North State League: Fayetteville, Graham, High Point, Lenoir, Lexington, Mocksville, Oak City, Ramseur, Reidsville, Sanford, Shallotte, Taylorsville. http://www.rcblbaseball.com/
Piedmont Collegiate Baseball League: Richmond, Va.
Southern Collegiate Baseball League (North Carolina): Charlotte, Concord, Lake Norman, Mooresville, Waxhaw
Sunbelt Baseball League (Georgia): Alpharetta, Brookhaven, Columbus, Gainesville, Marietta, Norcross, Suwanee, Waleska
Valley League (Virginia): Charlottesville, Covington, Front Royal, Harrisonburg, New Market, Purcellville, Staunton, Strasburg, Waynesboro, Winchester, Woodstock River.
This article originally appeared on Times-News: How collegiate wood-bat leagues are filling the small-town baseball gap
