Tag Archives: Frontier League

Independent Ball

Frontier League Loses Two Teams for 2016 Season

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The Frontier League released the schedules for their teams today, but they look much different than last year’s.  That is because the league has gone from 14 teams to 12 for the 2016 season.

Throughout the season, there were signs that the Rockford Aviators were faltering.  Attendance was at an all-time low (averaging less than 1,000 fans per game), financial problems were apparent and in June, MKE Sports & Entertainment was forced to terminate its managed service contract with the team.

According to the Rockford Register Star, “Commissioner Bill Lee ruled that MKE Sports & Entertainment’s contract with the team violates the league bylaws because the owner of MKE Sports & Entertainment, Michael Zimmerman, owns multiple baseball teams in another league.”

Then late in the season, the Frontier League took over day-to-day operations of the Aviators, all but cementing the fact that the team would fold at the end of the season.

With the loss of the Aviators, the Frontier League was able to dismantle their travel team, the Frontier Greys, which had been in place since the London Rippers folded in the middle of the 2013 season.

This downsizes the Frontier League to 12 teams for the first time since 2011. The 12 teams remaining are: Evansville Otters, Florence Freedom, Gateway Grizzlies, Joliet Slammers, Lake Erie Crushers, Normal Cornbelters, River City Rascals, Schaumburg Boomers, Southern Illinois Miners, Traverse City Beach Bums, Washington Wild Things and Windy City Thunderbolts.

However, the stadium in Rockford won’t go unused next summer. Rockford was awarded a franchise with the Northwoods League, a collegiate level summer wooden bat league.

Independent Ball

Will Oliver, Somerset Patriots Playing in the Atlantic League Championship Series

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The Somerset Patriots, including pitcher Will Oliver, will begin their quest to win the Atlantic League Championship series at home on September 30th.

Oliver, the Frontier League pitcher who was ruled ineligible after much controversy surrounding his age, has settled in nicely with the Patriots in the Atlantic League.

After causing his former team the Evansville Otters to forfeit ten games due to his ineligibility, Oliver quietly went to Somerset to continue playing the rest of the season in a league that doesn’t have age restrictions.

While not as dominating as he was in the Frontier League (his stats for 13 games with the Otters included a 9-2 record and 1.59 ERA), he has still continued his winning ways with the Patriots.  Since joining the team at the beginning of August, he has a 6-2 record with a 3.17 ERA  in nine starts during the regular season.

Those are great stats considering the amount of pressure and stress that he’s been through this season;  However, his playoff appearance this past weekend was where he really shined.

Oliver took the hill in a win or go home Game 4 playoff match-up against the Long Island Ducks, and he delivered. He pitched a masterful complete game shutout allowing only three hits over the full nine innings.  The Patriots won 4-0 and forced a Game 5 with the Ducks

will oliver

(Will Oliver Pitches Complete Game Shutout in Game 4)

The next day, Patriots pitcher Roy Merritt followed Oliver’s performance with a complete game shutout of his own, leading the Somerset Patriots to the Liberty Division Championship.

The Atlantic League Championship Series between the Somerset Patriots and the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs begins September 30th at TD Bank Ballpark in Bridgewater, New Jersey, home of the Patriots.