Pioneer Collegiate Baseball League

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Pioneer Collegiate Baseball League
SportBaseball, Collegiate summer baseball
Founded2017
No. of teams5
Countries United States
Most recent
champion(s)		Bancroft Bandits (2019)
Most titlesBancroft Bandits, Albert Lea Lakers, Storm Lake Whitecaps (1)
Official website[1]

The Pioneer Collegiate Baseball League is a collegiate summer baseball league based in Iowa, comprising teams of the top college players from North America and beyond. Players in the league must have college eligibility remaining, or be graduating seniors in order to participate. Players are not paid, so as to maintain their college eligibility.

History[]

PCBL formed in the summer of 2017 with five member teams competing.[1][2][3][4] Teams play a 32-game regular season beginning in June followed by a league playoff.

Carroll Merchants finished season one with the best regular season record and swept their way to the championship game eliminating Bancroft Bandits in two games. Second place Storm Lake Whitecaps needed three games in their semifinal series against Sioux Falls Gold to advance then won the first league championship by defeating Carroll 8-5.[5][6]

Albert Lea pitcher Ben Madison of Central Baptist College (NAIA) became the first PCBL player drafted by a Major League Baseball team when the San Francisco Giants selected him in the 2018 MLB Draft.[7][8]

Expansion came in January 2019 when it was announced a team would be placed in Fort Dodge.[9] The team was later named the Gypsum Miners.[10] The Albert Lea Lakers were disbanded by the league owner two days before the 2019 playoffs and were denied the chance to compete in the playoffs. The Bancroft Bandits would go on to win the 2019 league championship over the Carroll Merchants 7-5 in one 9 inning game. Michael Keeran was the head coach of both the 2018 Lakers and 2019 Bandits championship teams.[11]

Teams[]

PCBL teams
Team Location Stadium First season
Bancroft Bandits Bancroft, Iowa Bancroft Memorial Park 2017
Carroll Merchants Carroll, Iowa Merchants Park 2017
Fort Dodge Gypsum Miners Fort Dodge, Iowa Patterson Field 2019
Spencer Cardinals Spencer, Iowa Pederson Memorial Park 2021
Storm Lake Whitecaps Storm Lake, Iowa Memorial Field 2017

Former teams[]

  • Albert Lea Lakers (2017-2019)
  • Peak Prospects (2018-2019)
  • Sioux Falls Gold (2017)

Champions[]

PCBL champions
Season Champion Runner-up Result
2017 Storm Lake Whitecaps Carroll Merchants 8-5
2018 Albert Lea Lakers Storm Lake Whitecaps 2-0 (best-of three)
2019 Bancroft Bandits Carroll Merchants 7-5

References[]

  1. ^ "Whitecaps return to Storm Lake for first time since 1940". The Tack Online. November 16, 2016.
  2. ^ "College summer baseball returns with Sioux Falls Gold". Argus Leader. May 23, 2017.
  3. ^ "77-year wait ends in game-winner for Whitecaps". Storm Lake Times. June 7, 2017.
  4. ^ "Lakers coach hopes to set players and city up for success". Albert Lea Tribune. June 19, 2017.
  5. ^ "Merchants' championship rally falls short". Daily Times Herald. August 7, 2017.
  6. ^ "Season capped off by a Pioneer League championship". Storm Lake Times. August 9, 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  7. ^ "Round 9, Pick #256: college RHP Ben Madison". McCovey Chronicles. June 5, 2018.
  8. ^ "Lakers ace drafted into MLB". Albert Lea Tribune. June 10, 2018.
  9. ^ "Summer baseball league coming to Fort Dodge". The Messenger. January 23, 2019.
  10. ^ "A summer home in Fort Dodge". The Messenger. April 12, 2019.
  11. ^ "If you watch the Pioneer Collegiate Baseball League, you'll see the real goodness of this grand old game". Offenburger.com. 2019-08-17. Retrieved 2019-08-21.

External links[]

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