As they prepare rebrand before next season, the Lynchburg Hillcats (High A; Carolina League) are starting a name the team contest. The new name will take effect in time for the 2017 season. (more…)
Tag Archives | lynchburg hillcats
Triple Header Scratched in Lynchburg (Updated)
UPDATE: The Hillcats just announced that plans for the tripleheader have been scratched. Instead of playing three games this afternoon, the two teams will meet for a doubleheader. The third game will be made up in Lynchburg on May 9. (more…)
Sunwall retires, Jones takes over in Lynchburg
A mainstay in Lynchburg baseball has announced his retirement, as Lynchburg Hillcats (High-A; Carolina League) President and CFO Paul Sunwall is stepping down after 35 years in the front office. He will be replaced by Chris Jones, an experienced executive who most recently served as the general manager of the Sugar Land Skeeters (independent; Atlantic League). (more…)
Elmore Sports Group to buy Hillcats
Welcome from Opryland, where the baseball industry is holding the Winter Meetings and Trade Show. Today some news about one of the many sales to be announced this week, with the Elmore Sports Group expected to buy the Lynchburg Hillcats (High A; Carolina League). (more…)
Lynchburg, Cleveland sign four-year player development contract
The Lynchburg Hillcats (High Class A; Carolina League) and the Cleveland Indians signed a four-year player development contract (PDC), though the 2018 season. The Cleveland Indians had previously been affiliated with the Carolina Mudcats (High Class A; Carolina League) in a relationship dating back to the franchise’s roots in Kinston, beginning in 1987. The Hillcats […]
Freier: I may acquire new team for Columbia
We hinted at this, but now veteran MiLB operator Jason Freier has made it explicit: acquiring another team is very likely if a new Columbia ballpark is built, rather than moving the Savannah Sand Gnats (Low Class A; Sally League) to the city. Besides negotiating for a new Columbia ballpark, Freier has also been talking […]
Fate of Lynchburg Hillcats still cloudy
Though Wilmington voters rejected a new-ballpark plan that would have brought the Lynchburg Hillcats (High Class A; Carolina League) to North Carolina, the team’s long-term future at Calvin Falwell Field is far from assured. There may have been some premature celebration among Hillcats fans when the ballpark referendum went down in Wilmington. Two things are […]
After overwhelming defeat at polls, don’t look for MiLB in Wilmington any time soon
After Wilmington (N.C.) voters overwhelmingly rejected a proposed property-tax hike for a new waterfront ballpark, elected officials and baseball people say there probably will be no further efforts to bring MiLB to the city. The proposal was for a new ballpark funded by taxpayers: $31 million for the ballpark and $6 million for the land. […]
Wilmington voters overwhelmingly reject ballpark plan
At the end of the day, it wasn’t close: Wilmington (N.C.) voters overwhelmingly rejected a hike in local property taxes to pay for a new ballpark for a High Class A Carolina League team. The final margin: 70 percent against, 30 percent for. Not a surprise: polls from both sides had shown overwhelming opposition to […]
Poll: Wilmington voters oppose ballpark funding plan
A new poll shows considerable opposition to public funding of a new Wilmington (N.C.) ballpark for a High Class A Carolina League team, as voters prepare to decide on the issue in next Tuesday’s elections. The poll, from the conservative Civitas Institute, reports 59 percent of Wilmington voters said they were certain to vote against […]
Sweetening the pot in Wilmington
Whether this sways any voters remains to be seen, but it looks like a proposed new ballpark in Wilmington (N.C.) could attract outside investors, as a development firm say it will build next to the Carolina League facility if approved. The developer, Charlotte-based South Street Partners, is pitching high-end residential and retail space if voters approve […]
Wilmington still negotiating ballpark site
Wilmington (N.C.) officials have settled on two waterfront sites for a potential ballpark for a High Class A Carolina League team and are negotiating with the landowners. The plan: the city would fund a $37-million ballpark project for a ballpark to be managed by Mandalay Baseball Properties and hosting a team owned by the Atlanta […]
Poll results won’t be public: Wilmington chamber
Results of polling on a new Wilmington (N.C.) ballpark for an Atlanta Braves farm team won’t be released to the public by the Wilmington Chamber of Commerce. The stated reason: the polling was done to refine a message urging voters to approve a property-tax hike ($50 annually on a house worth $200,000) to pay for […]