Clark County is getting a new amateur minor league baseball franchise. The team will be known as the Champion City Kings and will play a 60 game schedule starting in June of 2014, with 30 home games scheduled for Springfield's Carleton Davidson Stadium.
The Champion City name comes from the 1800s, when Springfield's Glessner Company manufactured Champion brand farm equipment.
Now the city hopes the team will create a successful economic brand for the future. The Kings will participate in the collegiate wood bat Prospect League, which has 12 teams ranging from Pennsylvania to Missouri.
Leann Castillo of the National Trail Parks and Recreation District in Clark County says the team will give the Springfield area its own version of the popular fan-friendly Dayton Dragons.
"This team will be investing a lot in our community and, at the same time, these players will be watched by major league scouts from around the country," Castillo explains. "So these scouts will be coming into Springfield and watching these players."
The Parks and Rec District will make a little over $10,000 after signing a deal with the Kings to let the team use Carleton Davidson Stadium.
The team will be owned by venture capitalist Ron Heineman, who is also an adjunct professor at Cedarville University. Former major league baseball player and Springfield resident Rick White, will be the team's general manager.