Frontier League

Frontier League
Founded	1993
No. of teams	16
Country	United States  Canada
Current champions	Capitales de Québec
Official website	www.frontierleague.com

The Frontier League is an independent minor league which began play in 1993. It is the oldest independent league still in operation. Currently, the league has 14 clubs.

After the 2019 season, the River City Rascals shut down, leaving the Frontier League at 9 teams. The Can-Am League was at 5 teams due to the Ottawa Champions having problems, so the two leagues merged for the 2020 season. After losing the 2020 season to the COVID-19 pandemic, the re-vamped league carried on under the Frontier League name starting in 2021. Due to the travel restrictions during the pandemic, the two Canadian teams that joined the league as a result of the merger only began play in 2022, being joined by new Ottawa club that same year.

Current Teams

Current Frontier League Teams

East Division
Team	Location	Manager
Tri-City ValleyCats	Troy, NY	Pete Incaviglia
New Jersey Jackals	Paterson, NJ	P.J. Phillips
New York Boulders	New City, NY	T.J. Stanton
Québec Capitales	Quebec City, QC	Pat Scalabrini
Sussex County Miners	Augusta, NJ	Chris Widger
Trois-Rivières Aigles	Trois-Rivieres, QC	Matthew Rusch
Empire State Greys	Tupper Lake, NY	Mark Mason
Ottawa Titans	Ottawa, ON	Bobby Brown
West Division
Team	Location	Manager
Evansville Otters	Evansville, IN	Andy McCauley
Florence Y'alls	Florence, KY	Chad Rhoades
Gateway Grizzlies	Sauget, IL	Steve Brook
Joliet Slammers	Joliet, IL	Daniel Schlereth
Windy City ThunderBolts	Crestwood, IL	Richie Sexson
Schaumburg Boomers	Schaumburg, IL	Jamie Bennett
Lake Erie Crushers	Avon, OH	Jared Lemieux
Washington Wild Things	Washington, PA	Tom Vaeth

League Champions

Year	Winner	Series	Loser
1993	Zanesville Greys	2-0	Ohio Valley Redcoats
1994	Erie Sailors	2-0	Lancaster Scouts
1995	Johnstown Steal	2-0	Zanesville Greys
1996	Springfield Capitals	2-0	Chillicothe Paints
1997	Canton Crocodiles	2-0	Evansville Otters
1998	Springfield Capitals	2-1	Chillicothe Paints
1999	London Werewolves	2-0	Chillicothe Paints
2000	Johnstown Johnnies	3-1	Evansville Otters
2001	Richmond Roosters	3-0	Chillicothe Paints
2002	Richmond Roosters	3-1	Washington Wild Things
2003	Gateway Grizzlies	3-0	Evansville Otters
2004	Rockford Riverhawks	3-0	Evansville Otters
2005	Kalamazoo Kings	3-2	Chillicothe Paints
2006	Evansville Otters	3-0	Chillicothe Paints
2007	Windy City Thunderbolts	3-2	Washington Wild Things
2008	Windy City Thunderbolts	3-0	Kalamazoo Kings
2009	Lake Erie Crushers	3-2	River City Rascals
2010	River City Rascals	3-1	Traverse City Beach Bums
2011	Joliet Slammers	3-1	River City Rascals
2012	Southern Illinois Miners	3-1	Florence Freedom
2013	Schaumburg Boomers	3-0	Lake Erie Crushers
2014	Schaumburg Boomers	3-1	River City Rascals
2015	Traverse City Beach Bums	3-0	River City Rascals
2016	Evansville Otters	3-2	River City Rascals
2017	Schaumburg Boomers	3-1	Florence Freedom
2018	Joliet Slammers	3-2	Washington Wild Things
2019	River City Rascals	3-2	Florence Freedom
2020		Cancelled
2021	Schaumburg Boomers	3-2	Washington Wild Things
2022	Capitales de Québec	3-1	Schaumburg Boomers
2023	Capitales de Québec	3-2	Evansville Otters

Notable League Alumni

• Morgan Burkhart
• Brendan Donnelly
• Matt Duff
• Josh Kinney
• Terry Pearson
• George Sherrill
• Jason Simontacchi
• Joe Thatcher
• Brian Tollberg
• J.J. Trujillo

Cities Represented

Illinois

• Crestwood, IL:
  • Cook County Cheetahs (1999-2003); moved from Heartland League
  • Windy City ThunderBolts (2004-present)
• Joliet, IL:
  • Joliet Slammers (2011-Present)
• Marion, IL:
  • Southern Illinois Miners (2007-2021)
• Normal, IL
  • Normal CornBelters (2010-2018); moved from Rockford, IL
• Rockford, IL:
  • Rockford RiverHawks (2002-2009); moved from Springfield, IL; moved to Normal, IL
  • Rockford RiverHawks (2011-2012); moved from Kalamazoo, MI; renamed Rockford Aviators
  • Rockford Aviators (2013-2015); previously known as Rockford RiverHawks
• Sauget, IL:
  • Gateway Grizzlies (2001-present)
• Schaumburg, IL:
  • Schaumburg Boomers (2012-present)
• Springfield, IL:
  • Springfield Capitals (1996-2001); moved from Portsmouth, OH; moved to Rockford, IL

Indiana

• Evansville, IN:
  • Evansville Otters (1995-present); moved from Lancaster, OH
• Huntingburg, IN:
  • Dubois County Dragons (1999-2002); moved from Parkersburg, WV; moved to Kenosha, WI
• Richmond, IN:
  • Richmond Roosters (1995-2005); moved to Traverse City, MI

Kentucky

• Ashland, KY:
  • Tri-State Tomahawks (1993); folded after two weeks
• Florence, KY:
  • Florence Freedom (2003-2019); moved from Johnstown, PA
  • Florence Y'alls (2020-present)
• Pikeville, KY and Paintsville, KY:
  • Kentucky Rifles (1993-1994)

Michigan

• Kalamazoo, MI:
  • Kalamazoo Kodiaks (1996-1998) moved from Newark, OH; moved to London, ON
  • Kalamazoo Kings (2001-2010) moved to Rockford, IL
• Traverse City, MI:
  • Traverse City Beach Bums (2006-2018); moved from Richmond, IN
• Waterford, MI:
  • Oakland County Cruisers (2010); moved from Ypsilanti, MI
• Ypsilanti, MI:
  • Midwest Sliders (2009); previously a road team; moved to Waterford, MI

Missouri

• Columbia, MO:
  • Mid-Missouri Mavericks (2003-2005); moved from Canton, OH; suspended operations after 2005 season
• O'Fallon, MO:
  • River City Rascals (1999-2019); moved from Zanesville, OH
• Ozark, MO:
  • Springfield/Ozark Ducks (2004); moved from Kenosha, WI; moved to Ohio Valley Redcoats

New Jersey

• Augusta, NJ:
  • Sussex County Miners (2020-present); moved from Can-Am Association
• Montclair, NJ:
  • New Jersey Jackals (2020-2022); moved from Can-Am Association; Moved to Paterson, NJ
• Paterson, NJ
  • New Jersey Jackals (2023- ); moved from Montclair, NJ

New York

• New City, NY:
  • New York Boulders (2020-present); moved from Can-Am Association
• Troy, NY
  • Tri-City ValleyCats (2021-present)

Ohio

• Avon, OH:
  • Lake Erie Crushers (2009-present)
• Canton, OH:
  • Canton Crocodiles (1997-2001); moved to Washington, PA
  • Canton Coyotes (2002); moved from London, ON; moved to Columbia, MO
• Chillicothe, OH:
  • Chillicothe Paints (1993-2008)
• Lancaster, OH:
  • Lancaster Scouts (1993-1994); moved to Evansville, IN
• Lorain, OH:
  • Ohio Valley Redcoats (2005)
• Newark, OH:
  • Newark Buffalos (1994)
  • Newark Bisons (1995); moved to Kalamazoo, MI
• Portsmouth, OH:
  • Portsmouth Explorers (1993-1995); moved to Springfield, IL
• Zanesville, OH:
  • Zanesville Greys (1993-1996); moved to O'Fallon, MO

Ontario

• London, ON:
  • London Werewolves (1999-2001); moved from Kalamazoo, MI; moved to Canton, OH
  • London Rippers (2012)
• Ottawa, ON
  • Ottawa Titans (2022-present)

Pennsylvania

• Erie, PA:
  • Erie Sailors (1994); moved to Johnstown, PA
• Johnstown, PA:
  • Johnstown Steal (1995-1997); moved from Erie, PA
  • Johnstown Johnnies (1998-2002); moved to Florence, KY
• Slippery Rock, PA:
  • Slippery Rock Sliders (2007); became a road team
• Washington, PA:
  • Washington Wild Things (2002-present); moved from Canton, OH

Québec

• Québec, QC:
  • Quebec Capitales (2022-present); moved from Can-Am Association
• Trois-Rivières, QC:
  • Trois-Rivières Aigles (2022-present); moved from Can-Am Association

West Virginia

• Parkersburg, WV:
  • Ohio Valley Redcoats (1993-1998); moved to Huntingburg, IN
• Wayne, WV:
  • West Virginia Coal Sox (1993); folded after two weeks

Wisconsin

• Kenosha, WI:
  • Kenosha Mammoths (2003); moved from Huntingburg, IN; moved to Ozark, MO

Road Teams

• Ohio Valley Redcoats (2005; played home games in Lorain, OH, Marietta, OH and Lafayette, IN); moved from Ozark, MO; suspended operations after 2005 season
• Midwest Sliders (2008); Moved from Slippery Rock, PA; Moved to Ypsilanti, MI
• Frontier Greys (2014-2015)
• Équipe Québec (2021)
• Empire State Greys (2022-present)

Further Reading

• Mike Shannon: Everything Happens in Chillicothe: A Summer in the Frontier League with Max McLeary, the One-Eyed Umpire, McFarland, Jefferson, NC, 2004.

External Links

League website