The East Texas Pump Jacks (summer collegiate; Texas Collegiate League) are leaving Kilgore’s Driller Park for the University of Texas-Tyler’s Irwin Field for the 2015 season.
The Pump Jacks played seven seasons at Driller Park. Business reasons were cited as the reason for the move. From the Kilgore News Herald:
The biggest concession is that we’ve had to move 30 miles away from those folks who have, for seven seasons, lived and breathed Pump Jacks,” GM Mike Lieberman told News Herald editorial staff. “This was never something we were looking forward to, but on a day-to-day business operation, it’s something we need to do.”…
“We knew we were going to play this year,” he said. “The biggest question to be resolved was where.”
The Pump Jacks franchise had to go through the process of getting approval from the UT Board of Regents, and that final paperwork didn’t come in until Friday, Lieberman said. The club will be permitted to sell alcoholic beverages at their home games at UT-Tyler.
The team’s name and logos will remain the same. The team plans on announcing a coach and 2015 recruits in coming weeks before the late May season opener. The first-ever Pump Jacks home game in Tyler will take place Thursday, June 4, when the Acadiana Cane Cutters come to town.
The Jacks’ inaugural season in Tyler will kick off one week earlier, when they visit Dallas to take on the Texas Marshals on May 28 to begin a six-game road trip.
“We are so excited to share Pump Jacks baseball with the Tyler-area community,” Lieberman said. “This date has been circled on our calendar for a long time.”