Seacoast Mavericks

Seacoast Mavericks

Team Logo
Cap Insignia
League FCBL (East Division)
Location Portsmouth, NH (2013-)
Rochester, NH (2011-2012)
Ballpark Leary Field (2013-)
Year founded 2010
Former ballparks Bert George Field (2011-2012)
Colors Red, White, Blue
              
Ownership Dave Hoyt
Management Mike Young (GM)
Manager Tommy Chase
Website seacoastmavericks.com

The Seacoast Mavericks is a collegiate summer baseball team located in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. It is a charter member of the Futures Collegiate Baseball League (FCBL), a wood-bat league comprising 10 teams from New Hampshire to western Connecticut.

Ownership and management

The team is owned by Dave Hoyt, a former minor-league player for the Minnesota Twins and the owner and operator of USA Training Centers in Newington. This facility runs a youth program called the Mavericks Club, from which the team took its name. Mike Daboul is the Director of Baseball Operations and Sean Evans is the General Manager.

Former Boston Red Sox pitcher Bob Stanley is President of the team. Stanley gives lessons at USA Training Centers on a part-time basis.

Results

In 2011 and 2012, the Mavericks played at Bert George Field in Rochester, the ballpark of Spaulding High School on the north side of the city. The club invested $50,000 to build new dugouts and seating areas and make other improvements to the ballpark.[1] Earlier, the club had studied Marshwood High School in South Berwick, Maine as a home.

The inaugural year started with tragedy as player Adam Keenan collapsed and died of heart failure after the team's first practice.[2] The Mavericks finished the year with a record of 10-33, in last place in that year's four-team league. Jerico Weitzel, who had played in Division I and had been drafted by the Minnesota Twins, was a team leader.

In 2012, the FCBL expanded to 9 teams, recruiting the Old Orchard Beach Raging Tide and the North Shore Spirit away from the similar New England Collegiate Baseball League. These two teams joined the Nashua franchise as rivals just over an hour's drive from Rochester. The regular season was expanded from 44 to 54 games and a semifinal round was added to the playoffs. The team finished in 8th place with a regular-season record of 20-33.

The Mavericks played 6 of the home games of the 2012 season at Leary Field in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Daboul described attendance for those games at "about 500" per game, exceeding the team's average of 251 for the season.[3]

In 2013, the club adopted Leary Field as its home,[3] improved the dugouts, and installed on-field bullpens to replace areas that were separate from the playing field. On 30 June, the team hosted the Old Orchard Beach team at Marshwood H.S. as part of a day of activities in memory of former student Troy Pappas. This was the league's first all-Maine contest. The Mavericks reported a franchise-record attendance of 1622. The regular-season record of 21-32 slightly surpassed the previous year but again put the club in 8th place, 4½ games out of contention for the post-season.

For the 2014 season, the FCBL acquired a tenth team and began divisional play, placing the Mavericks in the East Division. Former Maverick player Tommy Chase was promoted to manager.[4] The team ended the regular season at 24-29, two games behind the final playoff wildcard.

In 2015, the Old Orchard Beach franchise ceased operations, replaced by the Bristol Blues in Connecticut. The Nashua team was moved to the East Division to compensate, putting New Hampshire's two franchises in the same division.

References

  1. ↑ Mike Zhe (2011-02-17). "Seacoast Mavericks taking shape". Foster's Daily Democrat.
  2. ↑ Mike Zhe (2011-06-07). "Seacoast Mavericks player dies after practice". SeacoastOnLine.com.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Mike Zhe (2012-12-06). "Mavs make the move to Portsmouth". Foster's Daily Democrat.
  4. ↑ Mike Zhe (2014-02-04). "Chase takes over as Seacoast Mavericks manager". SeacoastOnLine.com.

External links