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.
To find a collegiate summer team, players 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, NJCAA, CCCAA, and NWAC 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 Alaska Baseball League (ABL) and the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) are considered the two premier collegiate summer leagues.[2][3]
Active leagues
editThis list is organized by federation.
- Atlantic Collegiate Baseball League – Eastern Pennsylvania; Northern New Jersey; Staten Island, New York
- Cal Ripken Collegiate Baseball League – Washington–Baltimore metropolitan area
- California Collegiate League
- Cape Cod Baseball League – Cape Cod area of Massachusetts
- Florida Collegiate Summer League – Orlando area
- Great Lakes Summer Collegiate League – Michigan and Ohio
- Hamptons Collegiate Baseball League – The Hamptons (Eastern Long Island, New York)
- New England Collegiate Baseball League – New England
- New York Collegiate Baseball League – Central and western New York state
- Southern Collegiate Baseball League – Charlotte metropolitan area (North and South Carolina)
- Sunbelt Baseball League – Georgia
- Valley Baseball League – Shenandoah Valley and nearby areas (Virginia)
Source:[4]
Chicago Suburban Baseball League
- Great Lakes Bay Baseball Association[5]
- Metropolitan Collegiate Summer Baseball League of Illinois[6]
- New York Collegiate Baseball League
- Northern League
- Shoreline League
- St. Louis Metro Collegiate Instructional Baseball League[7]
- Tri-State Collegiate League[8]
- Alaska Baseball League[9]
- CenTex Collegiate League[10]
- Coastal Collegiate League[11]
- Houston Collegiate Summer League[12]
- Ohio Valley League[13]
- Pacific International League[14]
- Rocky Mountain Baseball League[15]
- Sunflower Collegiate League[16]
- Western Baseball Association[17]
Minor League Baseball Prospect Development Pipeline
edit- Appalachian League - Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina
Other (unaffiliated) leagues
edit- All-American Amateur Baseball Association - Pennsylvania
- Arizona Collegiate Wood Bat League[18]
- Atlantic Baseball Confederation - New Jersey
- Atlet Summer College Training League - Dallas/Ft. Worth, Texas (atletcollegeleague.com)
- Ban Johnson Amateur Baseball League
- Bay Area Collegiate League[19]
- Beach Collegiate Summer Baseball League
- Blue Chip Collegiate Baseball League (Formerly known as the LICBL)
- Cascade Collegiate League[20]
- Centennial State League - Northern Colorado[21]
- Coastal Plain League - North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Georgia
- Collegiate Baseball League Europe
- Connecticut Collegiate Baseball League
- Corn Belt Baseball League
- Cotton States Baseball League[22]
- Front Range League[23] - Colorado, Nebraska
- Futures Collegiate Baseball League - Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Vermont
- Golden State Collegiate Baseball League[24]
- Greater Northeast Collegiate Baseball League (GNCBL)
- Honor the Game College Wood Bat League
- Hudson Valley Collegiate Baseball League
- Independence League Baseball - Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming
- Interstate Collegiate Baseball League[25]
- Kansas Collegiate League[26]
- Maryland Collegiate Baseball League[27]
- Mid-Plains League - Kansas, Missouri
- Mile High Collegiate Baseball League
- MLB Draft League – northeast United States
- M.I.N.K. Collegiate Baseball League - Kansas, Iowa[28]
- New Jersey Amateur Baseball League
- Northern Utah League
- Northwoods League - Great Lakes states and Ontario, Canada
- Ohio Valley Summer Collegiate Baseball League
- Ohio Collegiate Summer Baseball League
- Old North State League[29]
- Pacific Coast Collegiate League[30]
- Pacific Empire League[31]
- Palm Springs Collegiate League[32]
- Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League - New York state
- Piedmont Collegiate Baseball League
- Play Ball Collegiate League
- Prospect League - Great Lakes states, Missouri, Tennessee
- Rockingham County Baseball League - Virginia
- Southern California Collegiate Baseball League
- Sunset Baseball League[33]
- Texas Collegiate League - Texas, Louisiana
- Tidewater Summer League
- West Coast League - US: Washington state, Oregon; Canada: British Columbia, Alberta[34]
- Western Canadian Baseball League - Alberta, Saskatchewan
- Wild Wild West League - metro Portland, Oregon[35]
Defunct leagues
edit- Basin League
- Big States League
- Central Illinois Collegiate League
- Clark Griffith Collegiate Baseball League
- Cotton State League
- Eastern Collegiate Baseball League
- Expedition League
- Far West League
- Great West League
- Hawaii Collegiate Baseball League
- Horizon Air Summer Series
- Jayhawk Collegiate League
- KIT Summer Collegiate Baseball League
- Lewis & Clark Baseball League
- Mountain Atlantic Collegiate Baseball League
- Mountain West Summer Collegiate Baseball[36]
- Northern League (1936–1941, 1946–1950, 1952; mainly in New York and Vermont)[citation needed]
- Pacific West Baseball League
- Puget Sound Collegiate League
- Saskatchewan Major Baseball League
- Sierra Baseball League
- Thorobred Collegiate Baseball League
See also
edit- Scenic West Athletic Conference, a junior-college league that uses wooden bats in conference play during the standard college baseball season
References
edit- ^ 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.
- ^ "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. Archived from the original on March 1, 2016. Retrieved February 28, 2016.
- ^ "Home Page | National Alliance of College Summer Baseball – Pointstreak Sites". www.nacsb.org. Archived from the original on January 27, 2010. Retrieved February 28, 2016.
- ^ "Tournament and Showcase Baseball Events » GLBBA". Great Lakes Bay Baseball Association.
- ^ "Metro. Collegiate Summer Baseball of Illinois Home Page". HomeTeamsONLINE.
- ^ "St. Louis Metro Collegiate Baseball League »". Official Site.
- ^ "Tri-State Collegiate League". Archived from the original on April 28, 2015. Retrieved July 25, 2020.
- ^ "Home Page | Alaska Baseball League".
- ^ "CenTex Collegiate Baseball League". CentexBBL.
- ^ "Coastal Collegiate League".
- ^ "Houston Collegiate Summer League is the premier summer college wood bat league in Houston, Texas". www.hcsleague.com.
- ^ "Ohio Valley League".
- ^ Pacific International League
- ^ "Rmblcolorado.com". www77.rmblcolorado.com.
- ^ "Home Page | Sunflower Collegiate League - Pointstreak Sites". sunflowerbaseball.pointstreaksites.com.
- ^ "westernbaseballassociation.com". westernbaseball.
- ^ "Home". Arizona Collegiate Wood Bat League.
- ^ "Bay Area Collegiate Baseball League". www.baclbaseball.com.
- ^ "Cascade Collegiate League". CCL.
- ^ "Official site of the Fort Collins Foxes Baseball Club". www.fortcollinsfoxes.com. Retrieved February 28, 2016.
- ^ "Cotton States Baseball League". www.cottonstatesleague.com.
- ^ "Front Range League". www.frontrangeleagueleague.com.
- ^ "Home Page | Golden State Collegiate Baseball League".
- ^ "Interstate Collegiate Baseball League". Archived from the original on April 21, 2018. Retrieved April 20, 2018.
- ^ "Home". Kansas Collegiate League Baseball.
- ^ "Maryland Collegiate Baseball League Home Page". HomeTeamsONLINE.
- ^ "MINK Summer College Baseball League". www.minkleaguebaseball.com.
- ^ "Old North State League Baseball". Old North State League Baseball.
- ^ "Welcome".
- ^ "Pacific Empire League". PEL.
- ^ "Power Summer Collegiate League – PSCL BASEBALL". palmspringscollegiateleague.com.
- ^ "Sunset League".
- ^ "West Coast League Baseball". West Coast League.
- ^ "Wild Wild West League". Wild Wild West League.
- ^ "Mountain West Summer Collegiate Baseball League (COLORADO)". mtwestsummercollegebaseball.com. Archived from the original on December 5, 2018. Retrieved July 7, 2022.