Dennis and Lisa Bastien are stepping down from their leadership roles as commissioner and deputy commissioner of the summer-collegiate Prospect League, choosing to focus on the new Jackson Rockabillys in 2023.
The move is effective December 31, 2022, after six years with the Prospect League.
At the end of the Bastiens’s first season in league leadership in 2017, the Prospect League was comprised of eight teams. With a mission and directive to grow and expand the league into new markets and great facilities, Bastien set his sights on expansion, adding teams in Cape Girardeau, Mo.; Normal and Alton, Ill.; Burlington and Clinton, Iowa; and Johnstown, Pa. He was instrumental in relocating the Hannibal, Mo., team to O’Fallon and the DuPage County, Ill., team to Illinois Valley/Peru. Most recently, Jackson, Tenn., and Southern Illinois (Marion, Ill.) have been added by Bastien for 2023, bringing the total to 18 teams.
“We have been honored and proud to represent this glorious summer collegiate league for six years,” Dennis Bastien said via press release. “We feel we have been instrumental in its growth and elevation in status among collegiate summer leagues.”
“We are excited for this new leg of our journey with the Prospect League,” Lisa Bastien said via press release. “We have had a front-row seat watching the success of our teams and have learned from each one. We are eager to add to our league’s success as operators and make Jackson a gem of an operation for the Prospect League.”
As noted, the Jackson Rockabillys will be playing out of former MiLB venue The Ballpark at Jackson beginning in 2023, led by the Bastiens and General Manager Steve DeSalvo.
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