On the Heels of Controversy, Fans Overwhelmingly Pick ‘River Pigs’

A decision that has taken this village through the ringer is closed.  After a vote by the public on Saturday, Empire League (Independent Professional) President Eddie Gonzalez confirmed what almost 73% of the voters wanted — for River Pigs to be the new name of the Tupper Lake (NY) baseball team.  Read more here.  Read about controversy here.  Thanks to John Cerone for the heads up.

OOB Surge Relocate to New York, Can-Am and EPBL to Battle in Series

The Old Orchard Beach Surge (Independent Professional, Empire Professional Baseball League) have relocated from The Ballpark in Old Orchard Beach (ME) to Saranac Lake (NY).  The team will be known as the Saranac Lake Surge.  Read more here.  In other news, the The Can-Am League (Independent Professional) announced last week that the EPBL’s all-star team, the Empire League Grays, will play four games against the 2018 Can-Am League champion Sussex County Miners.  Read more here.  Thanks to John Cerone for the heads up.

Surge to Return to The Ballpark in OOB in 2018

The Old Orchard Beach Surge (Independent Professional, Empire League) will be back at The Ballpark in Old Orchard Beach (ME) for another season. The Town Council voted unanimously to approve a 2018 contract with the franchise.  Read more  here.

Empire Pro League Loses Two, Adds Two

Billing itself as the “#1 Feeder League in the Country” (for the independent professional baseball powers), the second-year Empire Pro League has added the Puerto Rico Islanders and Plattsburgh Red Birds to replace the Watertown Bucks and New Hampshire Wild for the 2017 season.  The teams join the Sullivan Explorers and Old Orchard Beach Surge to make up the four-team circuit.  Read more here and here.

Empire League Completes Season, Looks to Future

The Empire League, which rose from the ashes of the defunct North Country Baseball League, has wrapped up its 2016 season and is looking to the future.  Read more here.  Thanks to John Cerone for the link.

North Country League Becomes Empire League, Director of Business Administration Announced

The defunct, one-and-done North Country Baseball League, which emerged from Colin Cummins’ failed effort to launch the East Coast Baseball League, has become The Empire Professional Baseball League.  Eddie Gonzalez, Director of Baseball Operations, had this to say in an e-mail: