Skip to navigation Skip to content Skip to footer
Prospect League Baseball
  • River Dragons

    River Dragons

  • Bees

    Bees

  • Catfish

    Catfish

  • Kings

    Kings

  • Paints

    Paints

  • LumberKings

    LumberKings

  • Dans

    Dans

  • DuBois County

    DuBois County

  • Full Count

    Full Count

  • Pistol Shrimp

    Pistol Shrimp

  • Rockabillys

    Rockabillys

  • Johnstown

    Johnstown

  • Aviators

    Aviators

  • CornBelters

    CornBelters

  • Hoots

    Hoots

  • REX

    REX

  • Springfield

    Springfield

  • Thrillbillies

    Thrillbillies

 


The Prospect League is a premier Midwestern wood-bat collegiate summer baseball league with 18 teams across Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Missouri, Ohio, Tennessee and Pennsylvania. The League provides college players a professional setting with excellent competition and high-quality facilities while delivering exciting baseball action and affordable all-ages entertainment to its communities. Known as the Central Illinois Collegiate League from 1963-2008, the Prospect League has a proud tradition as one of the original and most recognizable summer leagues. The League’s rich history includes Hall of Famers and NCAA Champions, nearly 200 alumni in Major League Baseball, and more than 800 professional players.

PURPOSE.  The Prospect League is a top summer collegiate wood bat baseball league. The purpose of the league is to: (a) Provide family friendly, affordable baseball entertainment in the communities where our teams are located; (b) Provide a summer baseball program for eligible college players to give them experience using a wood bat in a competitive atmosphere; (c) Provide a venue to allow MLB Scouts to watch collegiate prospects using wood bats against live pitching in competition.

PLAYING SCHEDULE. The 2023 Prospect League schedule is 58 games starting May 31 and ends with the Prospect League Championship Series during the second week of August.

TOURNAMENT. The first half winners in each division will host the second half winners in a one-game divisional championship round. (If the same team wins both halves, the team with the next-best second-half record makes the playoffs). Division winners in the East Concference will play a one-game conference championship round, as will the division winners from the West Conference. The East Conference Champion and the West Conference Champion will meet in a best-of-three Prospect League Championship Series. The team with the better overall record decided whether to host game one or games two and three.

For players to participate in the postseason, they must be on the 40-man active roster at the end of the regular season and must have played or pitched in a regular-season game prior to the final 10 days of the regular season.

PLAYER PROCUREMENT.  The Prospect League has a program of information gathering and promotion to go along with the coach’s own contacts and word-of-mouth in order to attract the best possible professional prospects. We promote the league nationally, through a network of coaches, players and scouts. promotion through this web site, and recommendations from college coaches. The final decision on players rests with the teams themselves, and should be based upon potential for advancement into professional baseball. Ideally, all players would be recommended by Major League Scouts. No more than four players from any single NCAA school may play on the same Prospect League team. Players sign a Prospect League Player Contract to confirm their choice of summer leagues and that contract precludes them from playing in any other summer collegiate league. If you want to play in the Prospect League, go to our "Prospective Player Form". Be as complete as possible and when you submit the form, it immediately goes to each Field Manager and Team.

HOUSING. Housing is generally provided through host families unless players are from the community in which their team is located.

PLAYING FIELD. A well maintained college field meets the standards for Prospect League play. Lights are required, as well as concessions, adequate public seating and facilities to bring a true "minor-league" experience to the players and the fans. The field must be available during the playing season to allow for scheduling. One of the mainstays of the Prospect League is the quality and class of the facilities in which the games are played. Our high-quality facilities help set us a part from most other summer leagues and is a benefit for players and fans.

TRAVEL. Team travel is by charter bus. Traveling for games in personal vehicles is prohibited.

UMPIRES. The Prospect League contracts with a professional assignor who schedules umpires from the Collegiate Baseball Umpires Alliance (CBUA) for all games. The CBUA includes over 1,300 active umpires from the Division I, II, III and Junior College levels, including umpires who have worked the NCAA Men's College World Series. The Prospect League plays by NCAA rules, with a few exceptions. We adhere to all recruiting and eligibility rules of the NCAA as well as numerous other sections of NCAA rules. 

PLAYING RULES. Prospect League games will be administered in accordance with the NCAA Rule Book and the Prospect League Rule Book.  The Prospect League Rule Book supersedes the NCAA Rule Book.

ROSTERS. The Prospect League roster is limited to 40 players. No more than four players from any one NCAA school (the school attended in the spring immediately preceding the Prospect League season) may play on the same Prospect League team. There is no limit on number of players from non-NCAA institutions. By NCAA regulation, no NCAA players may play on a team in the summer in which coaches from their school are associated. A Player must have been enrolled in the spring term prior to the summer season, and must still have college eligibility. Additionally, each team is allowed players in each special class: Graduated High School Seniors (must submit signed LOI to play baseball in college for the following season) and up to six (6) Graduated College Seniors.

INSURANCE.  Players must have and maintain their own health insurance, either as a part of their family's plan or an individual plan. The player will be required to give the insurance company name and the policy number when he fills out the contract form offered to him by one of the Prospect League's teams. The Prospect League does not carry secondary insurance on any player.

COMMUNICATIONS. League meetings are scheduled three times per year. The League office maintains communications through regular news releases, a continuous flow of telephone conversations, conference calls, emails, letters and memos between the league office and league officials.

SUPPORT. Each club has a management structure to take care of the operational aspects of each member club. The leadership is normally a team General Manager with the assistance of team ownership. Staffing varies widely, depending on the size of the market and the scope of the operation. The field manager and coaching staffs are separate positions. The league requires that an official scorer/game reporter be available at all home games to keep score, transmit information to media after the game and file a detailed statistics report for each game to the league office and the league's official statistics partner, PrestoSports.

PUBLIC RELATIONS/INFORMATION. The Prospect League office maintains this web site on a daily basis to communicate game results, standings, statistics and other notes of interest for the benefit of the media, fans and professional scouts that follow our players and teams. The League uses PrestoSports as the official statistician for the Prospect League. Live game stats are available for all league games, as well as a wide array of statistics for the serious fan.

COMMUNITY. The Prospect League can help any college and its athletic department achieve community service goals. The Prospect League gives fans a team to watch and support during the summer months when there is a gap between regular college sports seasons. The Prospect League brings trade to a community—families, friends and scouts come from all over to see their favorites. It also gives the college and community recognition outside the community in other cities and towns, plus the word-of-mouth recognition which comes from student-athletes returning to their own hometowns and campuses to talk of their experiences.

BASEBALL PEOPLE. The Prospect League is the highest level of amateur baseball played in the nation. It has been in business since 1963 and has provided professional baseball with more than 800 players—more than 175 of those reaching the majors. For this reason, plus the tradition and strength of the Prospect League, the league receives support from baseball scouts, college baseball coaches and baseball fans. The Prospect League’s new commitment to growth and strength is based upon the interest and skills of college baseball coaches and administrators—people who know talent and know the business of putting a team on the field.