Cal Ripken, Sr. Collegiate Baseball League

Infobox sports league
title =Cal Ripken, Sr. Collegiate Baseball League
logo =CRSCBL-logo.jpg
pixels =200
sport =Baseball
founded =2005
teams =8
country =USA
champion =Youse's Maryland Orioles
website = [http://www.ripkensrcollegebaseball.org/ CRSCBL Offical Web Site]

The Cal Ripken, Sr. Collegiate Baseball League (CRSCBL) is an amateur summer baseball league, with eight teams located in the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan area. Most players are from the college ranks.

History

The CRSCBL was founded in 2005 to "to promote, promulgate, and perpetuate collegiate wooden-bat baseball in Maryland and the District of Columbia." [cite web |title=CRSCBL Mission Statement |url=http://www.ripkensrcollegebaseball.org/published/about_us/index.html |accessdate=2008-03-27 ] The league was named in honor of Cal Ripken, Sr. in recognition of his lifelong dedication "to helping young baseball players develop and reach their potential." Although the league is named in his honor, it is not associated with the Cal Ripken, Sr. foundation.cite web |title=CRSCBL 2005 Annual Report |url=http://www.ripkensrcollegebaseball.org/published/archives/dat/annualreport2005.pdf |accessdate=2008-03-27 ]

The league's founding teams were the Bethesda Big Train, College Park Bombers, Maryland Redbirds, Rockville Express, Silver Spring-Takoma Thunderbolts, and Youse's Maryland Orioles. The Herndon Braves joined in 2007 and the Alexandria Aces joined in 2008. The addition of the Braves in 2007 and the Aces in 2008 expanded the league into Northern Virginia.

As of March 2008, one player, Joe Smith has earned a spot on a major league roster, with the New York Mets. [cite web |title=CRSCBL Alumni |url=http://www.ripkensrcollegebaseball.org/published/alumni/index.html |accessdate=2008-03-27 ]

2008 saw 40 former or current players chosen in the 2008 MLB Draft, including former Big Train Carlos Gutierrez 27th overall by the Minnesota Twins. Three other players got drafted inside the first three rounds: former Big Train Evan Frederickson 35th overall by the Milwaukee Brewers and two players from the Orioles, Derrik Gibson in the 2nd round by the Boston Red Sox and LJ Hoes in the 3rd round by the Baltimore Orioles.

Teams

* Alexandria Aces (Alexandria, Virginia) [cite web |title=Alexandria Aces Official Web Site |url=http://eteamz.active.com/AlexandriaAces/ |accessdate=2008-03-25 ]
*Bethesda Big Train (Bethesda, Maryland) [cite web |title=Bethesda Big Train Official Web Site |url=http://www.bigtrain.org/ |accessdate=2008-03-25 ]
*College Park Bombers (College Park, Maryland) [cite web |title=College Park Bombers Official Web Site |url=http://www.collegeparkbombers.org/ |accessdate=2008-03-25 ]
*Herndon Braves (Herndon, Virginia) [cite web |title=Herndon Braves Official Web Site |url=http://www.herndonbraves.com/ |accessdate=2008-03-25 ]
*Maryland Redbirds (Cockeysville, Maryland)
*Rockville Express (Rockville, Maryland) [cite web |title=Rockville Express Official Web Site |url=http://www.rockvilleexpress.org/ |accessdate=2008-03-25 ]
*Silver Spring-Takoma Thunderbolts (Silver Spring, Maryland) [cite web |title=Thunderbolts Official Web Site |url=http://www.tbolts.org/ |accessdate=2008-03-25 ]
*Youse's Maryland Orioles (Linthicum, Maryland)

Fields

*Bachman Park - Youse's Maryland Orioles, Maryland Redbirds
*Blair Stadium - Silver Spring-Takoma Thunderbolts
*Braves Stadium - Herndon Braves
*Four Mile Run Park - Alexandria Aces
*Joe Cannon Stadium - Maryland Redbirds
*Knights Field - Rockville Express
*Shipley Field - College Park Bombers
*Shirley Povich Field - Bethesda Big Train

Past league champions

*2008: Youse's Maryland Orioles (Regular Season and Post-Season Tournament)
*2007: Rockville Express (tournament and tied-regular season), Youse's Maryland Orioles (tied-regular season)
*2006: Silver Spring-Takoma Thunderbolts (tournament), Bethesda Big Train (regular season)
*2005: Bethesda Big Train and Silver Spring-Takoma Thunderbolts (Co-Champions)