MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The West Virginia Black Bears will take the field in
Granville for a sixth season of baseball in the summer of 2021. But they will
not longer serve as a minor-league affiliate of the Pittsburgh
Pirates.
The Black Bears will be part of the newly-formed MLB Draft
League. This is a six-team league that will begin play next May and will feature
former New York-Penn League rivals, Williamsport, Mahoning Valley and State
College. The Trenton Thunder will also be in the league with a team still to be
named.
Rosters will be comprised of draft-eligible, amateur players at
the college and high school levels. Wooden bats will be used.
The MLB
Draft League is slated to have a 68-game schedule with an annual All-Star Break
centered around the MLB Draft, which is now scheduled for July. This new league
will be sanctioned by MLB and operated by Prep Baseball Report (PBR), one of the
country’s biggest and most respected amateur scouting services.
Since the
Black Bears were founded in 2015, they competed in New York-Penn League, one of
the oldest continuously run leagues in minor league baseball. The franchise
produced several players that made their way through the system to play for the
Pittsburgh Pirates, including Kevin Newman, Kevin Kramer, Brandon Waddell,
Ke’Bryan Hayes, Dario Agrazal and J.T. Brubaker.
The Black Bears won the
NYPL title in their first season under manager Wyatt Toregas.
MLB
announced reduction of their MiLB affiliates throughout the country, including
the Appalachian League that houses franchises in Princeton and Bluefield. The
Appy League has been converted to a college wooden bat league.
The Black
Bears share Monongalia County Ballpark with the West Virginia University
Mountaineers. “The construction of Monongalia County Ballpark has to be one of
the most successful projects for the Morgantown community in the last 10 years,”
said WVU Director of Athletics Shane Lyons.
“The ballpark continues to
provide dividends to our local economy as it was one of the driving forces in
the decision to bring a Major League Baseball Draft League team to Morgantown.
The future stars of baseball and even potential Hall of Famers will get their
start in Morgantown and how great that will be for our community. It will be
special for fans one day to see baseball professionals shine in the major
leagues and be able to say they saw him play in Morgantown. The Mountaineers
have a great relationship with the West Virginia Black Bears and Rich Baseball,
and we look forward to continue working with them as they become one of the
prestigious inaugural teams of this great new venture.”