The Aguada Explorers are an independent professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

team playing in the American

Empire Professional Baseball League The Empire Professional Baseball League (EPBL) is an independent baseball league that began play in 2016. The Empire League plays a 40-game regular season followed by a five-game post season. The four-team league consists of four teams from Upst ...

, which is not affiliated with

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

. The team is currently based in the municipality of

Aguada, Puerto Rico Aguada (; , ), originally San Francisco de Asís de la Aguada, is a town and municipality of Puerto Rico, located in the western coastal valley region bordering the Atlantic Ocean, east of Rincón, west of Aguadilla and Moca; and north of Añ ...

, previously playing out of the cities of

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

and

Loch Sheldrake Loch Sheldrake is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the Town of Fallsburg, New York, United States, in Sullivan County. The zip code for Loch Sheldrake is 12759. The community was originally named Sheldrake Pond after a deep, glacia ...

in New York.

History

In 2015 the Road City Explorers were set to be a member of the

East Coast Baseball League The North Country Baseball League (NCBL) was an independent, professional baseball league located in the Northeastern region of the United States in 2015. Operating in cities not served by Major League Baseball or their minor-league affiliates, th ...

. The team was to be managed by Spencer Trygg. Prior to the planned start of the ECBL's first season the American-based teams, including the Explorers, pulled out of the league to form the

North Country Baseball League The North Country Baseball League (NCBL) was an Independent baseball league, independent, professional baseball league located in the Northeastern region of the United States in 2015. Operating in cities not served by Major League Baseball or thei ...

. The restructuring resulted in the Explorers being taken over by Eddie Gonzalez as manager and Robert Babiak as general manager. In 2016, they joined the EPBL, set to play out of

Rome, New York Rome is a city in Oneida County, New York, United States, located in the Central New York, central part of the state. The population was 32,127 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Rome is one of two principal cities in the Utica–Ro ...

. In 2017, the Explorers played at Generals Park on the campus of

Sullivan County Community College SUNY Sullivan is a public community college in Loch Sheldrake, New York. It was founded in 1962 and is part of the State University of New York (SUNY) system and funded in part by Sullivan County, New York. It is accredited by the Middle States C ...

2015 season

The Explorers led the upstart league with a 22-17 record. The Explorers promoted eight players to the Atlantic League and

American Association American Association may refer to: Baseball * American Association (1882–1891), a major league active from 1882 to 1891 * American Association (1902–1997), a minor league active from 1902 to 1962 and 1969 to 1997 * American Association of Profe ...

. Brian Hoover, a 38-year old rookie, made headlines as he signed with the Explorers mid-season.

2016 season

The Explorers were originally announced to move to

and play in the newly-formed Empire Professional Baseball League, until the franchise settled in Sullivan County. Mired in third place in the four-team EPBL, the Explorers won their last eight games, slipped into second place and qualified for the best-of-three championship series against the

Watertown Bucks Watertown may refer to: Places in China In China, a water town is a type of ancient scenic town known for its waterways. Places in the United States *Watertown, Connecticut, a New England town **Watertown (CDP), Connecticut, the central village ...

, who won both halves of the regular season with a 35-21 overall record. Despite the fact that the series was held in Watertown, the Explorers swept the Bucks, 8-6 and 8-7, to take the 2016 Empire League championship. It marked the second time a team from Sullivan County won a pro baseball title, and the first since the

Catskill Cougars The Catskill Cougars were a minor-league baseball team based in Mountaindale, New York in the state's Catskill Mountains region. The Cougars played in the North Atlantic League in 1996 and the Northeast League (later known as the Can-Am League), ...

in 1996. Jevon Jackson was named MVP of the championship series.

2018 season

The Explorers will be playing games in

Season-by-season

References

{{reflist Professional baseball teams in New York (state) 2015 establishments in New York (state) Baseball teams established in 2015 Professional baseball teams in Puerto Rico Aguada, Puerto Rico 2015 establishments in Puerto Rico