Year founded 2000 League championships 0 | Founded 2000 | |
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Location Laconia, NH (2010-present)Manchester, CT (2000-2009) Former league(s) NECBLSouthern Division (2004-2008)Western Division (2002)American Division (2001) Former ballparks Northwest Park (2000-2009) Colors Light Blue, Brown, Gold Ballpark Robbie Mills Field (2010–) | ||
The Winnipesaukee Muskrats are an amateur baseball team located in Laconia, New Hampshire, playing in the New England Collegiate Baseball League, a wood bat collegiate summer baseball league operating in the northeastern United States region of New England. The team's home field is Robbie Mills Field in Laconia.
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The franchise was an expansion franchise that was formed in 1999 and began play as the Manchester Silkworms of Manchester, Connecticut, in the 2000 season. The team moved to Laconia for the 2010 season. The NECBL announced in November 2015 that the team would be called the Winnipesaukee Muskrats (named after the region's Lake Winnipesaukee) in 2016.
Manchester Silkworms
The Manchester Silkworms began play in 2000 as the third Connecticut-based NECBL team. The Silkworms' high water mark occurred from 2004 to 2008 when they recorded five consecutive playoff appearances. The team hosted the 2004 NECBL All-Star Game and achieved a franchise best 24-17 record in the same season.
Laconia Muskrats
After the 2009 season, Silkworms owner Ed Slegeski sold the team to a team of partners led by Jonathan and Noah Crane. The Muskrats name was selected from a Name-the-Team contest.
In February 2012, the Laconia Parks and Recreation Commission approved a plan of the Muskrats to sell alcohol in a pavilion beyond left field at Robbie Mills Field that would be separate from general seating. On April 30, the club announced the construction of a manual scoreboard patterned after the Green Monster at Fenway Park in Boston at the left-field fence. The wall, 17 feet (5.2 m) tall and 88 feet (27 m) in length, was built during the 2012 season, and painted green by the end of the season, but the party deck was not finished.
Winnipesaukee Muskrats
After the 2015 season, new General Manager Kristian Svindland changed the name of the team from Laconia to Winnipesaukee, the name of Laconia's "Big Lake", to appeal to the entire region.