The Horizon Air Summer Series was a unique 11-week

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 ...

competition among collegiate summer baseball clubs.

History

The Summer Series was founded in 2005 by Bob Bavasi, former owner of the

Everett Aqua Sox The Everett AquaSox are a Minor League Baseball team in Everett, Washington. The team is a member of the Northwest League and is affiliated with the Seattle Mariners. The AquaSox play their home games at Funko Field, which has a seating capacity ...

, of the

Northwest League The Northwest League is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Pacific Northwest, Northwestern United States and Western Canada. A Class A Short Season league for most of its history, the league was promoted to High-A as part of Maj ...

. It is sponsored by

Alaska Airlines Alaska Airlines is a major American airline headquartered in SeaTac, Washington, within the Seattle metropolitan area. It is the sixth largest airline in North America when measured by fleet size, scheduled passengers carried, and the numb ...

' sister company,

Horizon Air Horizon Air Industries, Inc., operating as Horizon Air, is an American regional airline based in SeaTac, Washington, United States. Horizon Air and its sister carrier Alaska Airlines are subsidiaries of Alaska Air Group, and all Horizon-opera ...

. It is hosted by the

Marysville Gold Sox The Yuba-Sutter Gold Sox were a summer collegiate wood-bat baseball club based in Marysville, California, in the United States, that began as an independent professional team in 1995. They played their home games at Bryant Field, adjacent to El ...

Marysville, California Marysville is a city and the county seat of Yuba County, California, located in the Gold Country region of Northern California. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population was 12,072, reflecting a decrease of 196 from the 12,268 counted ...

. Among other leagues, teams from the Alaska Baseball League,

West Coast League The West Coast League (WCL) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league founded in 2005, comprising teams from Washington, Oregon, British Columbia and Alberta. The WCL was previously named the West Coast Collegiate Baseball League (WCCB ...

, Pacific International League,

Southern California Collegiate Baseball Association The Southern California Collegiate Baseball League is a collegiate summer baseball league, formerly the SCCBA (Association). Founded in 2007, the SCCBL is a member of the National Baseball Congress. The SCCBL League Champion represents the league ...

, Sierra Baseball League, and California Collegiate League have competed in the series. The series was originally made up of two divisions: The 40-game "McCullough Division" and the 20-game "Engelken Division". In 2008 the series was expanded with the addition of a third division, the "Bavasi Division", named after the series founder's father and former Brooklyn Dodger and Los Angeles Dodger General Manager Emil "Buzzie" Bavasi. The Horizon Air Summer Series ceased after the 2013 season. It has since been replaced by the Sierra Central/Montna Farms Summer Series (now known as just the Montna Farms Summer Series, again hosted by the Gold Sox.

Divisions & teams

The series teams are divided up into three divisions. Don McCullough Division (40 games) * Atwater Aviators *

Humboldt Crabs The Humboldt Crabs are a collegiate summer baseball team located in Arcata, California. Playing in every season since they were founded in 1945 by Lou Bonomini, later joined by Ned Barsuglia, the Crabs are the oldest continually-operated summer co ...

* Marysville Gold Sox
Neptune Beach Pearl

Redding Colt .45s
*

Seattle Studs The Seattle Studs are a semi-professional/collegiate baseball team in the greater Seattle, Washington area. They are currently a member of the National Baseball Congress in the Pacific International League and compete in the Horizon Air Summer Se ...

Gary Engelken Division (24 games) * California Glory * Menlo Park Legends * Nevada Bighorns
San Francisco Seagulls
* South Bay Storm
Walnut Creek Crawdads
Buzzie Bavasi Division (24 games) * Auburn Wildcats
Sacramento Legends

Sacramento Spikes
* San Mateo Rounders * Solano Mudcats

Champions

*2005:

Solano Thunderbirds The Solano Thunderbirds were an independent collegiate wood bat baseball team based in Vacaville, California, in the United States. They were owned by Curtis, Susan and Bryant Stocking and played their home games at Travis Credit Union Park in Va ...

*2006:

Yuba-Sutter Gold Sox The Yuba-Sutter Gold Sox were a summer collegiate wood-bat baseball club based in Marysville, California, in the United States, that began as an independent professional team in 1995. They played their home games at Bryant Field, adjacent to E ...

*2007:

Corvallis Knights The Corvallis Knights, founded as the Aloha Knights, are a collegiate summer baseball team located in Corvallis, Oregon. Founded in 1990 in Beaverton by Dan and his brother Joe Segel, the Knights moved to Corvallis from Gresham in 2007. They p ...

(tied) *2008:

*2009:

*2010:

*2011:

*2012:

*2013:

Notable alumni

Anthony Bass Anthony Edward Bass (born November 1, 1987) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Toronto Blue Jays of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the San Diego Padres, Houston Astros, Texas Rangers, Chica ...

Dallas Braden Dallas Lee Braden (born August 13, 1983) is an American former professional baseball player and television sports commentator. He played in Major League Baseball as a left-handed pitcher from to as a member of the Oakland Athletics and, wh ...

Matt Garza Matthew Scott Garza (born November 26, 1983) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He made his Major League Baseball (MLB) debut in 2006 with the Minnesota Twins, and also played in MLB for the Tampa Bay Rays, Chicago Cubs, Texas ...

Bud Norris David Stefan "Bud" Norris (March 2, 1985) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Houston Astros, Baltimore Orioles, San Diego Padres, Atlanta Braves, Los Angeles Dodgers, Los Angeles ...

* Scott Feldman *

Toby Gerhart Tobin Bo Gunnar Gerhart (born March 28, 1987) is a former American football running back. He was selected by the Minnesota Vikings in the second round of the 2010 NFL Draft. He played college football for Stanford University, and was a unanimous ...

Tommy Everidge Thomas James Everidge (born April 20, 1983 in Santa Rosa, California) is an American former professional first baseman who is currently the hitting coach for the Oakland Athletics. Amateur career Everidge attended Sonoma Valley High School in So ...

Tommy Hanson Thomas J. Hanson Jr. (August 28, 1986 November 9, 2015) was an American professional baseball pitcher in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played for the Atlanta Braves and Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Hanson made his MLB debut with Atlanta on ...

Kevin Frandsen Kevin Vincent Frandsen (born May 24, 1982) is an American sports broadcaster and former professional baseball utility player. Frandsen played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the San Francisco Giants, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Philadelph ...

* Curtis Partch *

Max Stassi Max Robert Stassi (born March 15, 1991) is an American professional baseball catcher for the Los Angeles Angels of Major League Baseball (MLB). The Oakland Athletics drafted him in the fourth round of the 2009 MLB draft. In 2013, Stassi made hi ...

References

{{reflist

External links

Horizon Air Summer Series official website
*
Marysville Gold Sox official website
College baseball leagues in the United States 2005 establishments in California Sports leagues established in 2005