Tag Archives: USPBL

Independent Ball

USPBL Player Signs With The Cardinals Organization

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USPBL Official Press Release

UNITED SHORE PROFESSIONAL BASEBALL LEAGUE SIGNS FIRST PLAYER TO A MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL ORGANIZATION
Ross Vance, Birmingham Bloomfield Beavers left-handed pitcher, signs with St. Louis Cardinals
Vance.jpg
UTICA, Mich.—The St. Louis Cardinals have signed United Shore Professional Baseball Leagues’ (USPBL) Ross Vance. Vance, a left-handed pitcher with the Birmingham Bloomfield Beavers will report to a St. Louis Cardinals Class A affiliate on Thursday, June 16, 2016. He is expected to join the Cards in either the Gulf Coast or New York Penn League.
The first USPBL player signed by a Major League team, Vance distinguished himself with the Beavers as a high-percentage strikeout pitcher with the ability to change speeds and keep hitters off balance. He compiled a 1-0 record with the Beavers, while posting a 0.00 ERA. Signed out of West Virginia University, Vance was 7-5 in his senior year, striking out a team-best 81 batters while allowing 35 earned runs on 48 hits for a 3.26 ERA.
Said USPBL’s Executive Director of Baseball Operations Brian Berryman: “The philosophy of this league is to get the best players overlooked by Major League Baseball and then do everything we can to make them better and signed by a Big League organization. We couldn’t be more pleased.”
The USPBL’s inaugural season began on Memorial Day 2016 and features the nation’s top baseball talent recruited to three initial teams: The Utica Unicorns, Eastside Diamond Hoppers, and the Birmingham Bloomfield Beavers.
“I loved being a part of the United Shore Professional Baseball League, in particular the coaching, mentoring and level of competition,” said Vance. “Any young player looking to get better and further their career should make this league their first priority.”
Independent Ball

United Shore League Opening Week, Rosters

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The United Shore Professional Baseball League (USPBL) officially opened their season one week ago. The Utica Unicorns faced the Birmingham Bloomfield Beavers at Jimmy John’s Field on Monday, May 30th – the Unicorns defeated the Beavers 5-1 in front of a sold out crowd. (Exact attendance figures have not been posted on their Pointstreak statistics page).

United Shore League

The league, which features three teams, will play all of their games at the newly built Jimmy John’s Field in Utica, Michigan. For more information on the league, a Q&A with their Director of Baseball Ops can be found on our website HERE.

So far, there have been four completed games with another game being suspended due to rain (Saturday June 4th’s game with the Unicorns and Beavers).

The promotions have been in full swing as well:  Star Wars and Super Hero Nights, Meet the Team events and fireworks with much more scheduled for the rest of the season!

Each game can be found live on their Youtube channel. Video replays are also uploaded after games.

Rosters have finally been released as well. The official website has a list of players on each team page; However there is no order (numerically, alphabetically, or position-wise) to their roster list. Pointstreak has the rosters listed in an easier to follow layout, so I will link to those for each team below:

Birmingham Bloomfield Beavers
East Side Diamond Hoppers
Utica Unicorns

united shore league 4

Based on the pictures and posts on their Facebook page, opening week has finished with great fanfare and feedback. The competition on the field looks good, and the players and fans both seem to be enjoying themselves.

Hopefully the magic of opening day doesn’t wear off any time soon, especially when the same three teams will be playing in the same stadium all summer long.

If all goes as planned, the next few years will include many expansions with more teams in other areas. According to Crain’s Detriot Business, they hope to have four to six teams playing in 2017, 10 to 12 teams in 2012, and 20 teams in 10 Midwest stadiums by the next decade.

Here’s hoping that this is just the beginning of a very successful independent baseball league!

(All photos courtesy of the USPBL Facebook Page)