Sport | Baseball |
---|---|
Founded | 2005 |
CEO | Jason Woodward |
No. of teams | 10 |
Country | USA |
Most recent champion(s) |
Bethesda Big Train |
Official website | CRCBL Official Web Site |
The Cal Ripken Collegiate Baseball League (CRCBL) is a collegiate summer baseball league located in the Washington, D.C. and Baltimore, Maryland metropolitan areas. All players are from NCAA-sanctioned colleges and universities and have at least one year of NCAA eligibility remaining. The CRCBL is a member of the National Alliance of College Summer Baseball (NACSB).
The CRCBL was founded in 2005. The league was named in honor of Cal Ripken, Sr. in recognition of his lifelong dedication "to helping young baseball players develop and reach their potential." Although the league is named in his honor, it is not associated with the Cal Ripken, Sr. foundation. In 2009 the league removed the "Sr." in the name to accommodate both Cal Ripken, Sr. and Cal Ripken, Jr..
The league's founding teams were the Bethesda Big Train, College Park Bombers, Maryland Redbirds, Rockville Express, Silver Spring-Takoma Thunderbolts, and Youse's Maryland Orioles. The Herndon Braves joined in 2007 and the Alexandria Aces joined in 2008, expanding the league into Northern Virginia. In 2009, the Southern Maryland Nationals, formerly the "Southern Maryland Cardinals", joined the league for the 2010 season when it was announced that the College Park Bombers would not be competing in 2010 due to financial struggles. Another name change occurred as the Maryland Redbirds changed their name to the "Baltimore Redbirds." In 2011, the Vienna River Dogs became the ninth team in the league and the third in Northern Virginia. The league expanded into Washington, D.C. when the D.C. Grays joined for the 2012 season. In 2013 two new teams, the Baltimore Presstman Cardinals and the Gaithersburg Giants, joined the League. In 2014 the Cardinals were replaced by the Baltimore Dodgers and the Southern Maryland Nationals ceased operations.<http://calripkenleague.org> After the completion of the 2014 season, Youse's Maryland Orioles announced that they would no longer be competing in the League. In 2015 the League changed to a two division format with a playoff.