Futures Collegiate Baseball League Announces the 2012 Schedule & New Teams

Chelmsford, Mass. - On Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Futures Collegiate Baseball League (FCBL) Commissioner Chris Hall announced the 2012 season schedule. Opening day is scheduled for Thursday, June 7 as eight teams in the nine team circuit will be in action. There will be a much different look to the FCBL in 2012 compared to the inaugural 2011 season. The FCBL has added five expansion teams to the original four team league as follows:

1. Martha's Vineyard Sharks (original),
2. Torrington Titans (original),
3. Nashua Silver Knights (original), 
4. Seacoast Mavericks (original),
5. Wachusett Dirt Dawgs (expansion),
6. Pittsfield Suns (expansion),
7. Old Orchard Beach Raging Tide
   (expansion),
8. North Shore Navigators (expansion),
   and the
9. Brockton Rox.

Teams will play a 54 game league schedule with each team playing 27 home and 27 away games. The Martha’s Vineyard Sharks will have their home opener against last year's champions, the Nashua Silver Knights, on Saturday, June 9 @ 5:00 PM. Last year approximately 2,000 fans attended opening day. This year the Sharks will have musical bands playing after a large number of home games including opening day (Dukes County Love Affair) and the following game against the U.S. Military All-Stars (Mike Benjamin Music).

The Sharks will introduce the Dietz & Watson Hot Dog Eating Contest, which will be played at every game. The winner will qualify for the FINALS, where the grand prize is $2,500. There will be a daily Bingo Night sponsored by Jim's Package Store. The winner will qualify for the FINALS where the grand prize will be $1,000.

The Sharks will play two additional home "non-league" games against the U.S. Military All-Stars (Sunday, June 10) and the British National Team (Saturday, June 30). The regular season will run from Thursday, June 7 until Thursday, August 9 immediately followed by league playoffs. The top four teams will compete for the FCBL Championship with the:

• #1 seed facing the #4 seed and the
• #2 seed facing the #3 seed, both in a best-of-three series.

The winners will face off in a best-of-three championship series to determine the
2012 FCBL Champion.

The inaugural FCBL All-Star Game will be hosted by the 2011 FCBL Champion, the Nashua Silver Knights. The game will be held on Thursday, July 26 at historic Holman Stadium in Nashua, NH. More exciting details of the day will be announced in the coming weeks.

The FCBL provides student-athletes from New England and New England colleges the opportunity to compete and play with the elite players from across the country and to promote them to MLB organizations. Each roster must contain at least 15 players from New England or from a New England university/college. In addition, the FCBL will provide a family friendly, affordable, and fun experience for the communities that we play in, in a minor league style setting.

The FCBL is currently playing in four New England states. The Torrington Titans
play in Connecticut, the Martha's Vineyard Sharks, Brockton Rox, Pittsfield Suns, North Shore Navigators and Wachusett Dirt Dawgs play in Massachusetts, the Seacoast Mavericks and Nashua Silver Knights play in New Hampshire and the Old
Orchard Beach Raging Tide play in Maine.

The Sharks schedule is at http://mvsharks.com/view/mvsharks/martha-s-vineyard-sharks-schedule/schedule-entertaiment 

You can visit the league's website at www.thefuturesleague.com

Christopher Hall Commissioner Futures Collegiate Baseball League of New England Cell: (617) 593-2112