If you follow baseball, then you are more than likely aware of the Savannah Bananas. But what many people don’t know is the collegiate summer baseball team started in the Coastal Plain League.
The Coastal Plain League is a summer league for college baseball players, with nine of the 15 teams based in North Carolina. Savannah is the most well-known team from the league.
The Bananas are known for their showmanship on the baseball field, which has led them from selling out their home stadium of 5,000 fans in Savannah, Ga., to selling out Major League Baseball and National Football League stadiums across the country. In 2022, the team took their infamous Banana Ball and left the league to focus on nationwide tours of exhibition games.
The Coastal Plain League was founded by sports executive Pete Bock in 1997. He came up with the idea after he had to travel long distances to see his son play summer baseball in the Valley Baseball League, based in Virginia, and wanted a league closer to home.
The nine North Carolina teams in the league are mostly in the eastern part of the state, with the farthest west teams in Boone and Forest City.
Outside of the central part of the state, the eastern part of North Carolina is packed with teams such as in Wilmington, Greenville and Morehead City. Elsewhere, there are teams in the Virginia cities of Hampton, Colonial Heights and Martinsville, as well as in Lexington, S.C., and Macon, Ga.
The Coastal Plain League was founded in 1997 with six teams – the Wilmington Sharks, Wilson Tobs, Raleigh RedWolves, Durham Braves, Rocky Mount Rockfish and Outer Banks Daredevils. Out of the founding six, only three of the teams are still in the league.
Wilmington and Wilson still play by their founding names, but Raleigh does not. After the 1997 season, the RedWolves moved to Florence and rebranded as the Florence Flamingos.
The team in Durham played as the Braves until the 2000 season, then rebranded as the Americans. They played as the Americans until the 2003 season, when the team disbanded.
The Rock Mount Rockfish only played two seasons in the league, stopping after the 1998 season.
The Outer Banks Daredevils played the inaugural season in 1997, didn’t played in 1998, then rejoined in 1999. They stayed in the Coastal Plain League until 2011. In 2013, they joined the Premier Collegiate League, where they have played ever since. In 2023, when the team returned from three seasons off due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they rebranded as the Outer Banks Scallywags.
The Raleigh RedWolves were the inaugural Coastal Plain League champions in 1997. The following two years, Wilmington went back to back.
In 2000, the Petersburg Generals won the championship in their inaugural season in the league. In 2001, Durham won the title.
The first three champions were crowned when the first half winner and second half winner faced off in a best-of-three series. The following two seasons, it was decided by divisions winners making it to the playoffs.
In 2003, the league’s formal championship trophy was awarded as teams played for the Petitt Cup. This is the trophy that teams play for to this day.
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the league experienced changes as teams came and went.
Spartanburg, S.C., is the only city to have multiple teams over the course of the leagues history. In 2003, the Spartanburg Stingers joined the league and played until 2007, when they relocated to Forest City and became the Owls.
Spartanburg got another team in 2021, when the Gastonia Grizzlies relocated after 18 years and became the Spartanburgers. They only played one season before suspending operations.
In 2016, the Savannah Bananas joined the league. During their tenure in the Coastal Plain League, they began gaining significant attention for their unique take on America’s pastime.
After winning championship in 2016, 2021 and 2022, they decided to leave the league to focus on expanding Banana Ball and going on tour across the country. They ended on a high note, leaving after the 2022 season.
The Bananas are one of four teams who have won three championships. The Wilmington Sharks, High Point-Thomasville HiToms and Edenton Steamers have also won a league-best three championships.
Wilmington and High Point-Thomasville are the only two teams left in the league with three championships to their name.
Edenton joined the league in 1998 and played until the 2019 season. During their time in the Coastal Plain League, they won 11 North Division titles, seven East Division titles and had a league-record 14-year streak of winning seasons. They are now a part of the Tidewater Summer League.
The two farthest west teams in the league are near Charlotte. The Forest City Owls were the first to join the league in 2008, while the Boone Bigfoots joined in 2023.
The Owls came to Forest City by way of Spartanburg. In 2008, the Owls began their inaugural season in Forest City playing at McNair Field.
The 3,000-seat stadium is named after Robert McNair, former owner of the NFL’s Houston Texas. McNair, who passed away in 2018, made significant contributions to the construction of the stadium. He was a Forest City native and grew up playing baseball there as a child.
In their season debut and home opener, the Owls turned a rare triple play in the sixth inning en route to winning 4-2 over the Gastonia Grizzlies. In their second season in 2009, they claimed their first Petitt Cup. They won the championship again the following year.
A notable Owls alumni who went on to play in the Major Leagues was pitcher Spencer Patton. In their 2009 championship season, Patton finished with a 9-0 record and a 1.46 ERA.
Patton went on to play for the Kansas City Royals, Texas Rangers and Chicago Cubs. Recently, he has played professional baseball in Mexico and the Dominican Republic.
The Boone Bigfoots are the other team that rounds on the most western teams in the Coastal Plains League. The Bigfoots, who were founded in 2021 and joined the league in 2023, play home games at Appalachian State University’s Beaver Field at Jim & Bettie Smith Stadium in Boone.
They are an independent baseball organization that is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. All of the profits generated go to the Appalachian State University Athletic Scholarship Fund.
Four players on the team play baseball at App State. Pitchers Reyn Watson and Max Tramontana, as well as catcher Samuel Weinstein and infielder/outfielder Bret Clements, are student-athletes there.
So far this season, the Forest City Owls have the best record in the league at 15-6 and are leading the West Division, at press time. The Boone Bigfoots sit in fourth in the West Division with a record of 12-11 at the Cherokee Scout’s press time Tuesday.