Texas Collegiate League

The Texas Collegiate League today announced the schedule for its fifth season. The 48-game campaign will open on Tuesday, June 10, with the regular season coming to a close on Sunday, August 3.

The last two league champions – the defending champion Coppell Copperheads and the McKinney Marshals, who won the title in 2006 – open the season at home. Coppell will take on the Brazos Valley Bombers for a two-game set, while the Marshals will welcome the league’s newest team, from Kilgore, for a pair of games.

All four teams will trade places for their next series. Kilgore will host its first TCL game on June 12 against McKinney, as the Copperheads travel to the Brazos Valley to face the Bombers.

With Kilgore kicking off its inaugural season, it marks the second consecutive year that the Texas Collegiate League will welcome an expansion franchise. The Bombers joined the TCL in 2007.

The four teams will enjoy a season built primarily around two-game series, with games Tuesdays through Sundays. All teams will have Mondays off throughout the season.

The league will utilize a single-division format to determine standings and playoff seedings for the 2008 season.

After the regular season concludes on August 3, the teams will embark on the TCL playoffs. The first round will see the regular season champion take on the team in fourth place, while the second- and third-place finishers face off in the other series. The two winners will then do battle in the TCL Championship Series. All playoff series are best-of-three affairs, with each team guaranteed at least one home game.

The full league schedule is available on the league’s web site at www.tclbaseball.com, in both graphical and list formats.