Southern Ohio Copperheads
| Southern Ohio Copperheads | |
|---|---|
 |
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| League | Great Lakes Summer Collegiate League |
| Location | Athens, Ohio |
| Ballpark | Bob Wren Stadium |
| Year founded | 2002 |
| Colors | Green, Gold, and Orange |
| Ownership | Southern Ohio Copperheads Limited Partners |
| Manager | Jonathan Nichols |
| General Manager | Dave Palmer |
| Media | Athens Messenger, The Post |
| Website | copperheadbaseball |
The Southern Ohio Copperheads are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Athens, Ohio. The team is a member of the Great Lakes Summer Collegiate League, one of 11 leagues in the National Alliance of Summer Baseball. The Copperheads play their home games at Bob Wren Stadium, which is also the home of the Ohio Bobcats baseball team. Owned and operated as a not-for-profit by the Southern Ohio Copperheads Limited Partners, the team began play during the summer of 2002. The current General Manager of the Copperheads is Dave Palmer, and the head coach is Phil Butler.
The inception of the Southern Ohio Copperheads baseball team began in the spring of 2002, with a conversation between two prominent Ohio University officials. Dr. Andy Kreutzer, director of the Sports Administration program at Ohio University and Alan Geiger, assistant to the president of Ohio University, began a discussion about summer in Athens, Ohio and the need for affordable, family entertainment. Their conversation slowly drifted to other university officials and civic leaders looking for activities in the summer and the idea of a baseball team in Athens started to gain momentum. It really picked up when Joe Carbone, head baseball coach Ohio University, recommended the Great Lakes Summer Collegiate League because it was coming to town for a weekend in the summer of 2001.
Bob Wren Stadium, the home park of Ohio University baseball), played host to an exhibition game between Team USA and the Great Lakes League All Stars on July 15, 2001. Nearly 1000 fans came out to enjoy a day of summer baseball, and the game was considered a great success. Following the game, Dr. Andy Kreutzer stated, “We received a lot of really positive feedback from the all star game and the success led us to believe that southern Ohio would support a team."
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