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Valley Blue Sox
The Valley Blue Sox are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Holyoke, Massachusetts. The team, a member of the New England Collegiate Baseball League, plays its home games at Mackenzie Stadium. The Blue Sox were founded in 2001 as the Concord Quarry Dogs but moved following the 2007 season to Holyoke to fill the void left by the departure of the Holyoke Giants to Lynn, Massachusetts. In 2017, the team won its first NECBL championship against the Ocean State Waves.
The Concord Quarry Dogs were founded in 2001, as the second NECBL team in the state of New Hampshire. The team led the league in attendance their inaugural year. Despite making the postseason in both 2002 and 2003, the fan base slowly began to dwindle. Attendance slipped dramatically in 2004 with the arrival of the New Hampshire Fisher Cats in nearby Manchester, New Hampshire. In 2006, average attendance was only 503 per game. Following the 2007 season, the team was purchased by the brother-sister team of Barry Wadsworth and Karen Rella who had hoped to help keep the team in Concord. But shortly thereafter, citing increased rent costs and low attendance, they began their search for a new home.
With the departure of the Holyoke Giants after the 2007 season, the new ownership group decided to move their team to Holyoke, Massachusetts. Their first year in Holyoke, the Blue Sox finished just under a .500 record and 8 games behind the division winning and eventual NECBL champions Sanford Mainers.
In 2009, the Blue Sox enjoyed far greater success than their inaugural season in Holyoke, finishing with a 20–21 record, earning the fourth and final West Division playoff spot after a one-game playoff with the Danbury Westerners. The Blue Sox then upset the #1 seeded Keene Swamp Bats in the Division Semifinal round, becoming the first ever #4 seed to defeat a #1 seed in the playoffs. However, the Blue Sox were then defeated by the Vermont Mountaineers in the Division Finals. The 2009 season was highlighted by Holyoke's hosting the 2009 NECBL All-Star Game at Mackenzie Stadium. The game saw a record-breaking attendance figure for the event of 4,906.
In 2011, the team finished with a 28–14 record, sharing the West Division regular-season title with the Keene. The team's attendance figures made a dramatic jump, rising from 39th in 2010 to 3rd in collegiate summer baseball. An average of 2,510 spectators attended each game.
In 2013, former Wisconsin Woodchucks owner Clark Eckhoff purchased the team and assumed the role of team president. The 2013 squad advanced to the postseason by winning a play-in game with the Saratoga Brigade before falling 2–1 in the West Division Semifinals to the eventual champions, the Keene Swamp Bats.
In May 2014, the organization announced it would be changing the team's name to the Valley Blue Sox.
In September 2013, Eckhoff hired General Manager Hunter Golden. Despite winning only 13 games in 2014, the team made a 5-win improvement under Golden in the 2015 season with the help and leadership of newly appointed Manager John Raiola. The team also saw its attendance grow to second in the NECBL in their tenure and 29th nationally among all summer collegiate teams according to Ballpark Digest.
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Valley Blue Sox
The Valley Blue Sox are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Holyoke, Massachusetts. The team, a member of the New England Collegiate Baseball League, plays its home games at Mackenzie Stadium. The Blue Sox were founded in 2001 as the Concord Quarry Dogs but moved following the 2007 season to Holyoke to fill the void left by the departure of the Holyoke Giants to Lynn, Massachusetts. In 2017, the team won its first NECBL championship against the Ocean State Waves.
The Concord Quarry Dogs were founded in 2001, as the second NECBL team in the state of New Hampshire. The team led the league in attendance their inaugural year. Despite making the postseason in both 2002 and 2003, the fan base slowly began to dwindle. Attendance slipped dramatically in 2004 with the arrival of the New Hampshire Fisher Cats in nearby Manchester, New Hampshire. In 2006, average attendance was only 503 per game. Following the 2007 season, the team was purchased by the brother-sister team of Barry Wadsworth and Karen Rella who had hoped to help keep the team in Concord. But shortly thereafter, citing increased rent costs and low attendance, they began their search for a new home.
With the departure of the Holyoke Giants after the 2007 season, the new ownership group decided to move their team to Holyoke, Massachusetts. Their first year in Holyoke, the Blue Sox finished just under a .500 record and 8 games behind the division winning and eventual NECBL champions Sanford Mainers.
In 2009, the Blue Sox enjoyed far greater success than their inaugural season in Holyoke, finishing with a 20–21 record, earning the fourth and final West Division playoff spot after a one-game playoff with the Danbury Westerners. The Blue Sox then upset the #1 seeded Keene Swamp Bats in the Division Semifinal round, becoming the first ever #4 seed to defeat a #1 seed in the playoffs. However, the Blue Sox were then defeated by the Vermont Mountaineers in the Division Finals. The 2009 season was highlighted by Holyoke's hosting the 2009 NECBL All-Star Game at Mackenzie Stadium. The game saw a record-breaking attendance figure for the event of 4,906.
In 2011, the team finished with a 28–14 record, sharing the West Division regular-season title with the Keene. The team's attendance figures made a dramatic jump, rising from 39th in 2010 to 3rd in collegiate summer baseball. An average of 2,510 spectators attended each game.
In 2013, former Wisconsin Woodchucks owner Clark Eckhoff purchased the team and assumed the role of team president. The 2013 squad advanced to the postseason by winning a play-in game with the Saratoga Brigade before falling 2–1 in the West Division Semifinals to the eventual champions, the Keene Swamp Bats.
In May 2014, the organization announced it would be changing the team's name to the Valley Blue Sox.
In September 2013, Eckhoff hired General Manager Hunter Golden. Despite winning only 13 games in 2014, the team made a 5-win improvement under Golden in the 2015 season with the help and leadership of newly appointed Manager John Raiola. The team also saw its attendance grow to second in the NECBL in their tenure and 29th nationally among all summer collegiate teams according to Ballpark Digest.