The Manchester Silkworms were a collegiate summer baseball team located in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

playing in the

New England Collegiate Baseball League The New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL) is a 13-team collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league founded in 1993 and sanctioned by the NCAA and Major League Baseball. Each NECBL team plays an eight-week, 44-game schedule during June ...

, a

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 operating in the northeastern

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

region of

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

. The team, an expansion franchise formed in 1999 which began play for the 2000 season, was based out of Northwest Park. In October, 2009 a new ownership group announced they would be moving the team to

Laconia, New Hampshire Laconia is a city in Belknap County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 16,871 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, up from 15,951 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. It is the county seat of Belknap County. La ...

, becoming the Laconia Muskrats (now called the Winnipesaukee Muskrats).

History

Silkworm name

In 1838, the Cheney Family started what became the world's largest silk mill, and by the 1920s developed a utopian industrial community. The intact mill buildings, owner houses and worker houses are now a

National Historic Landmark District National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

. The mill buildings have undergone restoration and conversion to housing in the recent past. Hence, the name ''Silkworms''.

Move to Laconia

On Sunday, October 18, 2009, Silkworms founder, owner, and general manager Ed Slegeski announced that he had sold the team to a partnership led by Noah Crane, which moved the team to Laconia, New Hampshire for the 2010 NECBL season.

Notable former players

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, former

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and

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pitcher *

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pitcher *

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outfielder * Graham Godfrey,

pitcher * Reid Gorecki, former

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outfielder * Zach Jackson,

Washington National Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport , sometimes referred to colloquially as National Airport, Washington National, Reagan National Airport, DCA, Reagan, or simply National, is an international airport in Arlington County, Virginia, across ...

pitcher *

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catcher *

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shortstop

Postseason appearances

References

{{Reflist

External links

Manchester Silkworms website

NECBL website
New England Collegiate Baseball League teams Sports in Manchester, Connecticut Amateur baseball teams in Connecticut Silk

History

Silkworm name

Move to Laconia

Notable former players

Postseason appearances

See also

References

External links