ROCHESTER, NY – The New York Collegiate Baseball League opens its 2014 season on Sunday, June first. From Opening Day, to the All-Star Game, to the first round of playoffs the NYCBL welcomes two new teams, returns to a divisional format and increases its number of regular-season games in what promises to be another exciting season.
The 2014 NYCBL campaign starts with five games on June first as the Cortland Crush and Genesee Rapids begin their inaugural seasons. Cortland travels to Wellsville and plays the 2013 playoff participant Nitros while Genesee hosts the Niagara Power at the Kerr-Pegula Athletic Complex on the campus of Houghton College.
With the addition of Cortland and Genesee, the NYCBL returns to a divisional format. Genesee joins the Geneva Twins, Hornell Dodgers, Niagara Power, Olean Oilers, Rochester Ridgemen and Wellsville in the Western Division. Cortland will compete in the Eastern Division with the Geneva Red Wings, Sherrill Silversmiths, Syracuse Jr. Chiefs, Syracuse Salt Cats, and the 2013 NYCBL Champion Oneonta Outlaws.
The Kerr-Pegula Athletic Complex will be the site of this year’s All-Star Game. The NYCBL’s best will converge on the campus of Houghton College on July eighth for the annual event which includes the Major League Baseball Scout Day and Home Run Derby culminating with the Mid-Summer Classic.
The NYCBL will also increase its number of regular season games from 40 to 46 highlighted by a home and home series between 2013 finalists Hornell and Oneonta. The Dodgers and Outlaws will meet at Damaschke Field in Oneonta on June 21st and the following day at Hornell’s Maple City Park. The Outlaws swept Hornell, 2-0 in last year’s championship.
The NYCBL’s 2014 season concludes July 25th with the first of three playoff rounds beginning two nights later. Best-of-three divisional semi-finals start on July 27th with the same format used for divisional finals and the NYCBL Championship Series.
Click here to see the entire schedule.
The All-Star teams will once again represent Roberto’s Kids and The Second Impact.
Founded by Oneonta Outlaws president and general manager, Steve Pindar, Roberto’s Kids strives to develop social responsibility through baseball. Named after MLB Hall-of-Famer Roberto Clemente, Roberto’s Kids works to provide equipment to needy children throughout North and Central America. With the endorsement of the Clemente family, Roberto’s Kids has overseen numerous drives and collections since 1999. Readers can learn more about the organization at www.robertos-kids.org.
The Second Impact is dedicated to increasing the awareness of the risks involving double impact brain injuries. Geneva Red Wings and Twins strength and conditioning coach, Ray Ciancaglini, a former prize fighter, founded The Second Impact after he was diagnosed with Dementia Pugilistica – a neurological disorder common among career boxers and others who receive numerous blows to the head. Good Morning America did a feature on Ciancaglini. Readers can find out more about Ray and his work at www.thesecondimpact.com.
The NYCBL is part of the National Alliance of College Summer Baseball (NACSB) which oversees the rules and policies of ten different summer leagues: the Atlantic Collegiate Baseball League, Cape Cod Baseball League, Cal Ripken Collegiate Baseball League, Florida Collegiate Summer League, Great Lakes Collegiate Summer League, New England Collegiate Baseball League, Southern Collegiate Baseball League, Sunbelt Baseball League, and the Valley League Baseball. These ten leagues provide a variety of competition levels that help prepare young players for life in professional baseball.
More than 100 NYCBL alums dotted rosters of Major and Minor League Baseball in 2013.
Current major league players Tim Hudson, Hunter Pence and Mike Fiers all spent a summer playing in the NYCBL.
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