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Someone sent me a note that advised that there is another 8-team collegiate league that will be starting play in the summer of 2004. Looks like some quality schools will be sending top players.

Here it is....

03:01 AM CDT on Thursday, September 25, 2003

By KEVIN LONNQUIST / The Dallas Morning News


ARLINGTON – For the new Texas Collegiate League to succeed, commissioner Wayne Poage said, he needed support from the state's top college baseball programs.

The summer, wood-bat league received player commitments from defending national champion Rice, as well as from Texas, Baylor and Texas A&M, it was announced at a news conference Wednesday. National finalist Stanford and other powers such as LSU, Florida State, Mississippi State and Cal State-Fullerton also have promised players.

Play will begin June 8, 2004, Poage said.

"When Rice and Texas A&M and Texas committed players, other programs like Cal State-Fullerton wanted to know what kind of players they were sending," Poage said. "When they heard that, they were willing to do it."

Players who have completed their freshman year and have college eligibility can play in the league.

The eight-team, 54-game schedule runs through Aug. 8, followed by a week of playoff and championship series. Graham, Mineral Wells, Granbury and Weatherford will make up the West Division. Coppell, Highland Park, McKinney and Waxahachie are in the East.

Players will stay with host families. The teams will play at several of the area's top high school facilities. Poage, a former athletic director at Dallas Baptist, said five of the eight coaches have been selected and a draft will be held in October to distribute the players.

Financially supported by Fort Worth investor Gerald Haddock, the league is modeled after the Cape Cod League in Massachusetts. For players at Texas schools, the new league offers a chance to stay closer to home.

Poage, who also will serve as the league's president, said he wanted to keep most of the teams close to but not in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. The exceptions are Highland Park and Coppell.

The league does not plan to compete against the Rangers, the Frisco RoughRiders or the Fort Worth Cats for followers. But Poage said he believes these communities will rally around their teams. Ticket prices will range from $2 to $6.


ON BOARD
The college baseball programs that will commit players to the new Texas Collegiate League (the wood-bat league is scheduled to begin play on June 8, 2004):
Arkansas LSU Texas
Baylor Miami (Ohio) Texas A&M
California Michigan Texas Tech
Cal-State Fullerton Missouri South Florida
Dallas Baptist Mississippi State Stanford
Florida State Oklahoma State Stetson
Georgia Pacific TCU
Kansas Pepperdine UT-Arlington
Rice



PLAY BALL
The Texas Collegiate League, a wood-bat league for college baseball players, is scheduled to begin play June 8. The league's division breakdown:
West Division East Division
Graham Coppell
Granbury Highland Park
Mineral Wells McKinney
Weatherford Waxahachie


E-mail klonnquist@dallasnews.com

the Florida Bombers
"I love the HSBBW"
Hope you Texans won't mind me asking a question here. What impact, if any, do you think the new Texas Collegiate League will have on the Cape Cod League? I know there are plenty of excellent players to go around. But just from looking at some of the Texas websites, they are pulling in some big names that might have otherwise (I think) gone to the Cape. I'm just wondering.

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