The Coastal Plain League (CPL) is a wood-bat

collegiate summer baseball 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 operat ...

league, featuring college players recruited from throughout the nation. The league takes its name from the Class D level Coastal League which operated in the area from 1937 to 1952.

History

The modern Coastal Plain League was formed with six teams in 1997. The league has expanded over the years with teams across

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

, and

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

, with the 2023 addition of the Boone Bigfoots being the most recent expansion, bringing the league to 14 teams.

Founding

The league was founded in 1997 by Pete Bock. Bock conceived the idea in the early 1990s while traveling long distances to the

Valley Baseball League The Valley Baseball League is an NCAA and MLB-sanctioned collegiate summer baseball league in the Shenandoah Valley region of Virginia. The league was started in 1923 and sanctioned by the NCAA in 1961. It has been a wooden bat league since 199 ...

to see his son, Jeff, play summer baseball. Bock, an experienced sports executive, wanted a collegiate summer league closer to his home. He acted on it and the Coastal Plain league began play for the 1997 season.

Past champions

Petitt Cup years

''Playoff seedings based on overall record, so division champions listed are based on overall record.''

Pre-Petitt Cup

Teams

Former teams

* Raleigh RedWolves (1997, moved to

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...

) *Rocky Mount Rockfish (1997–98) *Durham Braves (1997–2000, renamed Durham Americans) *Durham Americans (2001–03, formerly Durham Braves) *Spartanburg Stingers (2003–07, moved to Forest City, renamed Owls) *New Bern River Rats (2005–07, moved to

Morehead City Morehead City is a port town in Carteret County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 8,661 at the 2010 census. Morehead City celebrated the 150th anniversary of its founding on May 5, 2007. It forms part of the Crystal Coast. His ...

, renamed Marlins in 2010) * Outer Banks Daredevils (1997, 1999-2011, changed leagues) *

Petersburg Generals The Petersburg Generals were an amateur baseball team in the Coastal Plain League, a collegiate summer baseball league. The team played its home games at the Petersburg Sports Complex in Petersburg, Virginia. The Generals first started participa ...

(2000–2016) *

Edenton Steamers The Edenton Steamers are a collegiate summer baseball team located in Edenton, North Carolina. Beginning in 2020 they will participate in the Tidewater Summer League. 2019 was the Steamers 22nd year as a member of the Coastal Plain League where ...

(1998–2019, changed leagues) * Fayetteville SwampDogs (2001–2019) *

Gastonia Grizzlies The Gastonia Grizzlies were a collegiate summer baseball team playing in the Coastal Plain League. The team played its home games at Sims Legion Park in Gastonia, North Carolina, where they were known for their unique promotional events and firew ...

(2002–2020, moved to

Spartanburg Spartanburg is a city in and the seat of Spartanburg County, South Carolina, United States. The city of Spartanburg has a municipal population of 38,732 as of the 2020 census, making it the 11th-largest city in the state. For a time, the Offi ...

, renamed Spartanburgers) *

Spartanburgers The Spartanburgers are a collegiate summer baseball team playing in the Coastal Plain League. The team plays its home games at Duncan Park in Spartanburg, South Carolina. The team, formerly the Gastonia Grizzlies, relocated from Gastonia, North ...

(2021, suspended operations) *

Savannah Bananas The Savannah Bananas are an exhibition baseball team based in Savannah, Georgia. The team was founded in 2016 and has played at Grayson Stadium since its inaugural season. Until 2022, the Bananas competed as a collegiate summer baseball team ...

(2016–2022, left league to concentrate on its professional exhibition operation)

References

External links

Official site
Summer baseball leagues College baseball leagues in the United States Baseball leagues in North Carolina Baseball leagues in South Carolina Baseball leagues in Virginia Sports leagues established in 1997 1997 establishments in the United States {{Virginia-sport-stub