By Staff
October 3rd, 2018
BURLINGTON, ON
The Intercounty Baseball League today announced approval of the Burlington Herd’s application to transfer to Welland for the 2019 season. The move was approved unanimously at a League meeting Monday night in Cambridge.
Burlington has had a team in the IBL since 2012 playing out of Cosgrove Field. The rationale for the application, and the League approval, was that the franchise was moving to a better ballpark, better arrangements with the municipality and an overall better environment in Welland.
The team will play at Welland Stadium which seats 3,000 fans and was home to the Welland Pirates of the Class “A” New York-Penn League from 1989 to 1994. The Pirates were a farm team of the Pittsburgh Pirates.
“The team is moving to a great ballpark and we think a great community that is excited about having an IBL team. We had two games there last year when Hamilton’s park was unavailable and the players and teams thought it was great,” said Commissioner John Kastner.
This is not the first time the IBL has had a team in the Niagara Peninsula. The Niagara Falls Mariners were in the League from 1985 to 1989.
The other seven IBL member teams are Barrie Baycats, Brantford Red Sox, Hamilton Cardinals, Guelph Royals, Kitchener Panthers, London Majors and Toronto Maple Leafs. The League celebrated its 100th season in 2018.
For more information contact League commissioner John Kastner (519-301-3227) or Ryan Harrison of the Welland franchise (905-630-9036.)
