The newest team in the summer-collegiate Appalachian League for 2021: the Bluefield Ridge Runners, formerly the Bluefield Blue Jays.
The new Ridge Runners name of the team is reflective of the railroad history of the Bluefield area. Bowen Field at Peters Park straddles the state line of Virginia and West Virginia as did the original namesake of the team. The original Ridge Runner in 1964 circumnavigated a one-mile loop atop East River Mountain, half in Virginia and half in West Virginia. The little train now resides just outside the right field wall of Bowen Field.
Still to come in the new Appy League: team names from Danville and Princeton.
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