Coastal Plain League
From SoSH
| Founded: | 1997 |
| No. of Teams: | 15 |
| Class: | Collegiate |
| Most recent champion: | Thomasville Hi-Toms |
Contents |
League Information
Profile
The Coastal Plain League (CPL) is a collegiate summer league, featuring top-notch college players from throughout the nation. It is one of the many summer Collegiate Baseball Leagues. The old CPL competed from 1937 to 1941, and then, like most of baseball’s other minor leagues, suspended operations due to World War II. It would later return in 1946 and continue to operate through 1952. The CPL returned in 1997 to fill a void in summer baseball. With many summer leagues in operation at the time, there wasn’t really one located in the southeastern U.S.
League President Pete Bock first got the idea in the early 1990’s when his son, Jeff, a star pitcher for Barton College, was spending his summers playing in the Shenandoah Valley League. After making several long trips to see his son play, Bock, a long-time minor league sports executive, began wishing there was a summer league closer to home. A few years later, he put his ideas into action and the new Coastal Plain League was formed.
Now, heading into its 11th season, the CPL is the biggest summer collegiate baseball league in the country, featuring 15 teams across North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia. The latest addition to the league was the Columbia Blowfish in 2006.
The league is one of 8 members of the National Alliance of College Summer Baseball, an association of NCAA-sanctioned summer baseball leagues.
Current Teams
- Asheboro Copperheads
- Columbia Blowfish
- Edenton Steamers
- Fayetteville Swampdogs
- Florence Red Wolves
- Gastonia Grizzlies
- Martinsville Mustangs
- New Bern River Rats
- Outer Banks Daredevils
- Peninsula Pilots
- Petersburg Generals
- Spartanburg Stingers
- Thomasville Hi-Toms
- Wilmington Sharks
- Wilson Tobs
