| Classification | Collegiate |
|---|---|
| Sport | Baseball |
| Founded | 1923 |
| President | R.W. "Porky" Bowman, Jr. |
| Commissioner | R.W. "Porky" Bowman, Jr. |
| Motto | "Gateway to the majors" |
| No. of teams | 12 |
| Country |  United States |
| Most recent champion(s) | Harrisonburg Turks (2023) |
| Official website | Valley Baseball League |
The Valley Baseball League is an NCAA and MLB-sanctioned collegiate summer baseball league in the Shenandoah Valley region of Virginia.[1]
The league was started in 1923 and sanctioned by the NCAA in 1961. It has been a wooden bat league since 1993. It is one of the twelve leagues in the National Alliance of College Summer Baseball. The VBL is funded in part by a grant from Major League Baseball. The Valley League has produced well over 1,000 professional baseball players, including a record 79 former players drafted in the 2008 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft.
In 2007, the Valley Baseball League expanded to include one new team with the addition of the Fauquier Gators. Another team was planned to be added in Lexington, Virginia but difficulties with the lighting system delayed the team's addition to the league. The VBL announced in July 2008 that the Rockbridge Rapids would start play in the 2009 season, but the team folded a couple years later. In 2011 the Strasburg Express entered the league and in 2015 the Charlottesville Tom Sox entered the league.[2]
The league canceled the 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[3][4]
The Culpeper Cavaliers joined as the league's 12th team in 2023.[5]
- ^ Fisher, Marc (June 16, 2004). "Perfect Pitch". The Washington Post. Retrieved October 26, 2014.
- ^ Hudtloff, Marty (February 5, 2015). "Tom Sox Chosen as Name of Charlottesville's New VBL Team". WVIR-TV. Archived from the original on February 5, 2015. Retrieved February 5, 2015.
- ^ "The 2020 Valley League Has Been Cancelled". ValleyLeagueBaseball.com (Press release). Valley Baseball League. April 2, 2020. Retrieved April 6, 2020.
- ^ Hite, Patrick (April 2, 2020). "Valley Baseball League season canceled". The News Leader. Staunton, Virginia. Retrieved April 6, 2020.
- ^ Payne, Devin. "Summer college baseball coming to Culpeper in 2023". Culpeper Star-Exponent. Retrieved June 15, 2022.