Sport Baseball No. of teams 11 Most recent
champion(s) Strasburg Express | Founded 1923 Country United States | |
Motto "Gateway to the majors" | ||
The Valley Baseball League is an NCAA and MLB-sanctioned collegiate summer baseball league in the Shenandoah Valley region of Virginia. Each Valley Baseball League season consists of 44 games played during summer.
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The league was started in 1923 and sanctioned by the NCAA in 1961. It has been a wooden bat league since 1993. It is one of eight leagues in the National Alliance of Collegiate Summer Baseball. The VBL is funded in part by a grant from Major League Baseball. The Valley League has produced well over 1,000 professional baseball players, including a record 79 former players drafted in the 2008 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft.
In 2007, The Valley Baseball League expanded to include one new team with the addition of the Fauquier Gators. Another team was planned to be added in Lexington, Virginia but difficulties with the lighting system delayed the team's addition to the league. The VBL announced in July 2008 that the Rockbridge Rapids would start play in the 2009 season, but the team folded a couple years later. In 2011 the Strasburg Express entered the league and in 2015 the Charlottesville Tom Sox entered the league.
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South
Valley League Playoff Series
Quarterfinals:
#1 vs. #8 (Best 2 of 3 games) #2 vs. #7 (Best 2 of 3 games) #3 vs. #6 (Best 2 of 3 games) #4 vs. #5 (Best 2 of 3 games)Semifinals:
Highest Remaining Seed Vs. Lowest Remaining Seed (Best 2 of 3 games) Next Highest Seed vs. Next Lowest Seed (Best 2 of 3 games)Championship:
Highest Remaining Seed vs. Other Remaining Seed (Best 2 of 3 games)Championships per team
(in alphabetical order)
The summer of 2008 was highlighted by a promotion called Around the Valley in 60 Days. This promotion was started by Crystal Clear Delivery and S. Carter Studios and encouraged patrons to visit all 11 parks in the 60-day season. The program was deemed a huge success as some fifty fans completed the program and attended all 11 ballparks.