Sussex Skyhawks
| Sussex Skyhawks | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| League | Canadian American Association of Professional Baseball | ||||
| Location | Augusta, New Jersey | ||||
| Ballpark | Skylands Park | ||||
| Year founded | 2006 | ||||
| Year folded | 2011 | ||||
| Nickname(s) | The Hawks | ||||
| League championships | 2008 | ||||
| Former name(s) | Sussex Skyhawks (2006–10) | ||||
| Colors | Sky Blue, Black, White, Silver |
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| Ownership | Floyd Hall | ||||
| Media | New Jersey Herald | ||||
The Sussex Skyhawks were a professional baseball team that played at Skylands Park in Augusta, New Jersey. The team was part of the Canadian American Association of Professional Baseball, an independent minor baseball league also referred to as the Can-Am League, from their inaugural season in 2006 until 2010. The team was owned by a group led by Floyd Hall, who also owns the New Jersey Jackals. The team was formed in part due to their home park's previous tenant, the New Jersey Cardinals, relocating to University Park, Pennsylvania following the 2005 New York–Penn League season to become the State College Spikes.
After the announcement of a new team coming to the area, the ownership group—which was known as Sussex Professional Baseball—held an online contest for fans to try to name the team. On January 25, 2006, "Sussex Skyhawks" was chosen as the winning name. The Skyhawk name represented the Skylands Region of northwestern New Jersey, where the team was playing, and Sussex was chosen to represent Sussex County, New Jersey, where Augusta is located.
For their inaugural season, the Skyhawks hired Brian Drahman, who had been the pitching coach for the New Jersey Jackals, as their manager. The team took the place of the Elmira Pioneers, who left the professional ranks to join the New York Collegiate Baseball League, and their roster was composed largely of players who had been a part of The Grays, the league's 2005 traveling team.
Due to poor weather and other factors, the Skyhawks attendance was disappointing early in the inaugural 2006 season, until the team found itself in a tight, multi-team race for the first-half pennant. With a 23-19 record into the first half's final weekend, Sussex had a chance to win the first half if they could take two out of three games from the North Shore Spirit. Instead, they were swept, and the Skyhawks tumbled all the way to fifth place, one of six teams in a three-game knot at the top of the standings.
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