Collegiate summer baseball
Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues 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. Players use wooden baseball bats, hence the common nickname of these leagues as "wood bat leagues".
To find a collegiate summer team, they work with their college coaches and prospective teams' general managers. They report to summer leagues after completing their spring collegiate season with their NCAA, NAIA, and NJCAA teams. Some players arrive late due to their college team's postseason play, which sometimes runs into early June. In some cases, players are drafted during the collegiate summer season. These draftees can remain with their collegiate summer team until they sign a professional contract. During the season, players are housed by volunteer host families and bussed to and from road games.[1]
The leagues vary greatly in their attendances, quality of play, and ability to attract scouts. The Cape Cod League is considered the premier collegiate summer league.[2][3] In 2011, Baseball America scouted and ranked Top 10 prospects from 19 leagues, indicated below with (BA).[4] Ballpark Digest tracks attendance for 14 leagues, indicated below with (BD).[5] Many collegiate summer teams occupy cities and ballparks where a minor league team has left a city.[6]
List of leagues
This list is organized by federation
- Atlantic Collegiate Baseball League - Eastern Pennsylvania; Northern New Jersey; Staten Island New York
- Cal Ripken Collegiate Baseball League - DC; Central Maryland; Suburban Virginia
- California Collegiate League (BA)
- Cape Cod Baseball League - Cape Cod area of Massachusetts
- Florida Collegiate Summer League - Orlando area
- Great Lakes Summer Collegiate League - Western Ohio; Michigan; Kentucky
- Hamptons Collegiate Baseball League - Eastern Long Island, New York
- New England Collegiate Baseball League - Mainland New England
- New York Collegiate Baseball League - Northwestern New York state
- Southern Collegiate Baseball League - Western North Carolina and Northwestern South Carolina
- Sunbelt Baseball League - Northern Georgia
- Valley Baseball League - Northwestern Virginia
Source: [7]
- Florida Collegiate Summer League
- Great Lakes United Baseball League[8]
- Metropolitan Vollegiate Summer Baseball League of Illinois[9]
- Midwest Collegiate League[10]
- New York Collegiate Baseball League
- Tri-State Collegiate League[11]
- Alaska Baseball League (BA)
- CenTex Collegiate League[12]
- Coastal Collegiate League[13]
- Jayhawk Collegiate League (BA)
- M.I.N.K. Collegiate Baseball League[14] (BA, BD)
- Pacific International League[15]
- Rocky Mountain Baseball League[16]
- Western Baseball Association[17]
Other leagues
- All-American Amateur Baseball Association - Pennsylvania
- Arizona Collegiate Wood Bat League
- Atlantic Baseball Confederation - New Jersey
- Ban Johnson Amateur Baseball League
- Beach Collegiate Summer Baseball League
- Carolina-Virginia Collegiate League
- Centennial State League - Northern Colorado[18]
- Coastal Plain League (BA, BD)
- Collegiate Baseball League Europe
- Connecticut Collegiate Baseball League
- Corn Belt Baseball League
- Far West League
- Futures Collegiate Baseball League (BA, BD)
- Golden State Collegiate Baseball League
- Great West League
- Hawaii Collegiate Baseball League (BA)
- Hudson Valley Collegiate Baseball League
- Horizon Air Summer Series (BD)
- Lewis & Clark Baseball League
- Mid-Plains League
- Mile High Collegiate Baseball League
- Mountain West Summer Collegiate Baseball League
- New England Collegiate Baseball League (BA, BD)
- New Jersey Amateur Baseball League
- Northwoods League (BA, BD)
- Ohio Valley Summer Collegiate Baseball League
- Pacific Coast Collegiate League
- Pacific West Baseball League
- Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League (BA)
- Prospect League (BA, BD)
- Puget Sound Collegiate League
- Rockingham County Baseball League
- Southern California League
- Texas Collegiate League (BA, BD)
- West Coast League (BA, BD)
- Western Major Baseball League (BD)
Defunct leagues
- Big States League
- Central Illinois Collegiate League
- Clark Griffith Collegiate Baseball League
- Eastern Collegiate Baseball League
- KIT Summer Collegiate Baseball League
- Mountain Atlantic Collegiate Baseball League
- Saskatchewan Major Baseball League
- Sierra Baseball League
- St. Louis Metro Collegiate Baseball League (corporate parent dissolved by State of Missouri in 2013)
References
- ^ Grunebaum, Dave (August 6, 2012). "Summer Baseball Grooms Players for Majors". VOANews.com. Voice of America. Archived from the original on August 7, 2012. Retrieved August 7, 2012.
{{cite web}}
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ignored (|url-status=
suggested) (help) - ^ "BaseballAmerica.com: College: Summer Scene: Summer League Top Prospects: Summer College Leagues: Top 10 Prospects". www.baseballamerica.com. Retrieved February 28, 2016.
- ^ "10 Best College Baseball Summer Leagues". Made Man. Retrieved February 28, 2016.
- ^ "BaseballAmerica.com: College: Summer Scene: Summer League Top Prospects: 2011 Summer College Leagues No. 1 Prospects". www.baseballamerica.com. Retrieved February 28, 2016.
- ^ "2011 Summer-Collegiate Attendance by League". Ballpark Digest. Retrieved February 28, 2016.
- ^ http://www.stadiumjourney.com/news/06-04-2016/1462/when-the-minors-leave,the-collegiate-leagues-take-over/
- ^ "Home Page | National Alliance of College Summer Baseball - Pointstreak Sites". www.nacsb.org. Retrieved February 28, 2016.
- ^ Great Lakes UBL
- ^ Metropolitan Collegiate Summer Baseball League of Illinois
- ^ Midwest Collegiate League
- ^ Tri-State Collegiate League
- ^ CenTex Collegiate League
- ^ Coastal Collegiate League
- ^ M.I.N.K. Collegiate Baseball League
- ^ Pacific International League
- ^ Rocky Mountain Baseball League
- ^ Western Baseball Association
- ^ "Official site of the Fort Collins Foxes Baseball Club". www.fortcollinsfoxes.com. Retrieved February 28, 2016.