Independence League Baseball is a

collegiate summer baseball Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operat ...

league in the United States with teams playing in Nebraska, South Dakota, and Wyoming. The league played its inaugural season in 2022 with ten teams and had eight teams for 2023. eight teams are listed for the 2024 season.

History

The league was announced in October 2021 with seven teams which were leaving the

Expedition League The Expedition League was a collegiate summer baseball league in the Great Plains region of the United States and Canada. The league was founded in 2015 in Rapid City, South Dakota, by Steve Wagner, who also served as president. The league's inau ...

: * Badlands Big Sticks (

Dickinson, North Dakota Dickinson is a city in and the county seat of Stark County, North Dakota, United States. The population was 25,679 at the 2020 census, making it the seventh most populous city in North Dakota. Dickinson, founded in 1881, is also home to Dickins ...

) * Canyon County Spuds (

Caldwell, Idaho Caldwell (locally CALL-dwel) is a city in and the county seat of Canyon County, Idaho, United States. The population was 68,336 at the time of th2023 United States census making it the List of cities in Idaho, 5th most populous city in Idaho. C ...

) * Casper Horseheads (

Casper, Wyoming Casper is a city in and the county seat of Natrona County, Wyoming, United States. Casper is the List of municipalities in Wyoming, second-most populous city in the state after Cheyenne, Wyoming, Cheyenne, with the population at 59,038 as of th ...

) * Fremont Moo (

Fremont, Nebraska Fremont is a city in and the county seat of Dodge County, Nebraska, Dodge County in the eastern portion of the state of Nebraska in the Midwestern United States. The population was 27,141 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it t ...

) * Hastings Sodbusters (

Hastings, Nebraska Hastings is a List of cities in Nebraska, city in and the county seat of Adams County, Nebraska, Adams County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 25,152 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Neb ...

) * Spearfish Sasquatch (

Spearfish, South Dakota Spearfish (Lakota: ''Hočhápȟe'') is a city in Lawrence County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 12,193 at the 2020 census, and was estimated to be 13,282 in 2023, making it the 11th most populous city in South Dakota. Spearfi ...

) * Western Nebraska Pioneers (

Gering, Nebraska Gering is a city in and the county seat of Scotts Bluff County, Nebraska, United States, in the Panhandle region of the state. The population was 8,564 at the 2020 census, making it the 17th most populous city in Nebraska. History Gering ...

) For the 2022 season, the league added the Gem City Bison (

Laramie, Wyoming Laramie () is a List of municipalities in Wyoming, city in and the county seat of Albany County, Wyoming, United States, known for its high elevation at , for its railroad history, and as the home of the University of Wyoming. The population wa ...

), the North Platte Plainsmen (

North Platte, Nebraska North Platte is a city in and the county seat of Lincoln County, Nebraska, United States. It is located in the west-central part of the state, along Interstate 80, at the confluence of the North and South Platte Rivers forming the Platte River. ...

), and the Nebraska Prospects, a

traveling team In professional team sports, a traveling team (also called a road team) is a member of a professional league that never competes in a home arena or stadium. This differs from a barnstorming team as a barnstorming team competes in exhibition games ...

to balance the schedule. The Western Nebraska Pioneers were the champions of the inaugural season. For the 2023 season, the Oahe Zap were founded in

Pierre, South Dakota Pierre ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of South Dakota and the county seat of Hughes County. As of the 2020 census, its population was 14,091. Pierre is the eleventh-most populous city of South Dakota, and the second-least populo ...

while the North Platte Plainsmen and the Western Nebraska Pioneers left the league to play their own independent schedules. In December 2022, the Casper Horseheads ceased operations after four years in the two leagues and the Canyon County Spuds announced their relocation from Caldwell, Idaho to Casper, Wyoming to become the Casper Spuds. In January 2023, the Gem City Bison announced that they are skipping the 2023 season, citing "ongoing challenges", and that they will be "working diligently" to return in 2024. In February 2023, the Sawtooth Sockeyes (Caldwell, Idaho) joined the league as an unaffiliated, travel only team to help balance the schedule. In October 2023, the Badlands Big Sticks left the league to join the

Northwoods League The Northwoods League is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league. All players in the league must have National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA eligibility remaining in order to participate. The league is amateur, and players are not ...

for the 2024 season. the league website lists five teams as members for the 2024 season (Casper Spuds, Fremont Moo, Hastings Sodbusters, Oahe Zap, Spearfish Sasquatch) and three teams as unaffiliated, travel only teams (Nebraska Prospects, Plainsmen Baseball, Bison Baseball). It isn't stated if the Plainsmen or Bison are connected to the same-named previous teams, nor is there anything said about the Sawtooth Sockeyes absence.

Teams

Current members

Former members

Membership timeline

DateFormat = yyyy ImageSize = width:1070 height:auto barincrement:20 Period = from:2022 till:2025 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal PlotArea = right:20 left:0 bottom:50 top:5 #> to display a count on left side of graph, use "left:20" to suppress the count, use "left:20"<# Colors = id:line value:black id:Full value:rgb(0.63,0.88,0.755) # Member of the League id:Past value:rgb(0.80,0.80,0.80) # Former Member of the League PlotData = width:15 textcolor:darkblue shift:(5,-5) anchor:from fontsize:s bar:1 color:Orange from:2022 till:2024 text:Badlands Big Sticks (2022–2023) bar:2 color:Orange from:2022 till:end text:Canyon County/Casper Spuds (2022–Present) bar:3 color:Orange from:2022 till:2023 text:Casper Horseheads (2022) bar:4 color:Orange from:2022 till:end text:Fremont Moo (2022–Present) bar:5 color:Orange from:2022 till:2023 text:Gem City Bison (2022) bar:6 color:Orange from:2022 till:end text:Hastings Sodbusters (2022–Present) bar:7 color:Orange from:2022 till:end text:Nebraska Prospects (2022–Present) bar:8 color:Orange from:2022 till:2023 text:North Platte Plainsmen (2022) bar:9 color:Orange from:2022 till:end text:Spearfish Sasquatch (2022–Present) bar:10 color:Orange from:2022 till:2023 text:Western Nebraska Pioneers (2022) bar:11 color:Orange from:2023 till:end text:Oahe Zap (2023–Present) bar:12 color:Orange from:2023 till:2024 text:Sawtooth Sockeyes (2023) bar:13 color:Orange from:2024 till:end text:Bison Baseball (2024–Present) bar:14 color:Orange from:2024 till:end text:Plainsmen Baseball (2024–Present) ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:1 start:2022 TextData = fontsize:L textcolor:black pos:(0,30) tabs:(535-center) text:^"Independence League Baseball membership history"

Map

References

External links

Official Website
{{College Summer Baseball Baseball leagues in Idaho Baseball leagues in Nebraska Baseball leagues in North Dakota Baseball leagues in South Dakota Baseball leagues in Wyoming College baseball leagues in the United States Sports leagues established in 2021 Summer baseball leagues