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Valley Baseball League
Collegiate summer baseball league From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Valley Baseball League is an NCAA and MLB-sanctioned collegiate summer baseball league in the Shenandoah Valley region of Virginia.[1]
The league was started in 1923 and sanctioned by the NCAA in 1961. It has been a wooden bat league since 1993. It is one of the twelve leagues in the National Alliance of College Summer Baseball. The VBL is funded in part by a grant from Major League Baseball. The Valley League has produced well over 1,000 professional baseball players, including a record 79 former players drafted in the 2008 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft.
In 2007, the Valley Baseball League expanded to include one new team with the addition of the Fauquier Gators. Another team was planned to be added in Lexington, Virginia but difficulties with the lighting system delayed the team's addition to the league. The VBL announced in July 2008 that the Rockbridge Rapids would start play in the 2009 season, but the team folded a couple years later. In 2011 the Strasburg Express entered the league and in 2015 the Charlottesville Tom Sox entered the league.[2]
The league canceled the 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[3][4]
The Culpeper Cavaliers joined as the league's 12th team in 2023.[5]
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Current teams
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Former teams
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Season structure
The regular season consists of 44 games played beginning the first week of June and continuing until late July. Through the 2019 season, teams played all inter-division opponents 3 times and intra-division opponents 5 or 6 times. Beginning in 2021, teams no longer travel to every other ballpark in a single season: rather, all inter-division meetings were scheduled as a single, 7-inning weekend doubleheader. This format was continued in 2022 but with the home teams reversed.
In 2023, the league eliminated divisions and moved to a scheduling model where each team played each other four times for an expanded 44-game schedule, an addition of two games from the previous 42.
In 2024, the league again adopted a new scheduling model where teams play games within their respective divisions for the entirety of the season. The league also reverted to a 40-game season with a change of playoff formatting.
Playoff format
Playoffs begin immediately following the regular season and continue into late July. In all series, the higher seeded team hosts games 1 and 3. No off-days are taken except for rain-outs and while waiting on other series' to finish.
- First Round
- #1 vs. #8 (Best 2 of 3 games)
- #2 vs. #7 (Best 2 of 3 games)
- #3 vs. #6 (Best 2 of 3 games)
- #4 vs. #5 (Best 2 of 3 games)
- Semifinals
- #1/#8 vs. #4/#5 (Best 2 of 3 games)
- #2/#7 vs. #3/#6 (Best 2 of 3 games)
- Championship
- Matchup of semifinal series winners (Best 2 of 3 games)
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VBL champions
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- Season cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
Championships per team
- Harrisonburg -13
- Winchester -13
- Luray-7
- Shenandoah -6
- Staunton -6
- Waynesboro -6
- New Market -4
- Charlottesville -4
- Strasburg -4
- Covington -2
- Madison -2
- Elkton -1
- Front Royal -1
- Haymarket -1
Not all teams have been with VBL since 1954. Throughout its history, teams have been removed and added.
The summer of 2008 was highlighted by a promotion called Around the Valley in 60 Days. This promotion was started by Crystal Clear Delivery and S. Carter Studios and encouraged patrons to visit all 11 parks in the 60-day season. The program was deemed a huge success as some fifty fans completed the program and attended all 11 ballparks.
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Notable players
- Daniel Murphy Luray '04 '05
- Brett Gardner, New Market '03 Center Field
- Ben Guez, Covington '06
- Jason Kipnis, Covington '07, second baseman for the Cleveland Indians
- Collin Cowgill, Covington
- Javier Lopez, New Market '96
- Mike Lowell, Waynesboro '93
- Mike Maroth, Staunton '96 '97
- Kyle Snyder, Winchester '97
- Cory Spangenberg, Winchester '10
- Aubrey Huff, Staunton
- Luke Scott, Staunton
- Juan Pierre, Harrisonburg
- Steve Finley, Harrisonburg
- Clint Robinson, Harrisonburg '05
- Mo Vaughn, Harrisonburg
- Jon Rauch, Harrisonburg
- David Eckstein, Harrisonburg
- Chris Hoiles, Harrisonburg
- Chris Devenski, Woodstock
- Guido Knudson, Woodstock
- Yonder Alonso, Luray '06
- Johnny Oates, Waynesboro
- Denny Walling, Waynesboro
- Wayne Comer, Shenandoah
- Jerry May, Staunton
- Jon Jay, Staunton '04
- Chris Perez, Staunton '04
- Ryan Schimpf, Luray '08
- Roberto Hernandez, Front Royal[6]
- Eddy Rodriguez, Luray '05 & '06[7]
- Jim Morris, Charlottesville
- Tom Browning, New Market
- Dan Pasqua, New Market
- Jimmy Key, Winchester
- Alex Wimmers, Luray '08
- Drew Rucinski, Luray '08
- Brian Bocock, Luray '04
- Erik Kratz, Waynesboro and Harrisonburg
- Mike Cubbage, Charlottesville
- Rick Honeycutt, Charlottesville
- Billy Sample, Harrisonburg
- Kirt Manwaring, Waynesboro
- Rich Rodriguez, Staunton
- Reggie Sanders, Front Royal
- Wayne Tolleson, Staunton
- Vic Correll, Staunton
- John Kruk, New Market
- Sam Perlozzo, Waynesboro and New Market
- Jason Michaels, Staunton
- John Pawlowski, Staunton
- Chad Tracy, Staunton
- Tommy La Stella, Haymarket
- Darrell Whitmore, Front Royal
- Vinnie Pasquantino, Charlottesville '17
- Graham Ashcraft, Waynesboro '18
- Rhett Lowder, Strasburg '21
- Wyatt Langford, Charlottesville '21
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References
External links
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