Seacoast Mavericks to Call Leary Field Home

With two weeks to go until Christmas, the Seacoast Mavericks are about to give the city an early present when they are expected to announce Monday afternoon they will call Portsmouth home.

The Futures Collegiate Baseball League team is scheduled to hold a press conference at Demeters Steakhouse on Monday at 4 p.m. where team officials are expected to say they will play all of their home games at Leary Field beginning in the 2013 season.

According to Mike Daboul, the team's president, city officials have been very supportive of the Mavericks making Portsmouth their full-time home. Daboul also indicated in an e-mail the team will be making a second big announcement during Monday's press conference.

The Futures Collegiate Baseball League often features the country's best college players, some of whom move onto professional baseball and the Major Leagues. During a time when Major League Baseball seems more and more inaccessible to the average baseball fan, the FCBL provides an enjoyable and affordable local alternative. The team has a 54-game schedule and beginning with the 2013 season, 27 of those games will be played in Portsmouth. The team had played a majority of its home games at Spaulding High School in Rochester.

According to the Seacoast Mavericks web site, "the 30 player roster consists primarily of New England athletes currently playing college baseball at the Division 1, 2, or 3 levels. These players will be under the watchful eye of professional baseball scouts with the hope of being selected in Major League Baseball’s amateur draft."

The FCBL is comprised of teams located in Nashua (Silver Knights), Martha’s Vineyard, Mass. (Sharks), Torrington, Conn. (Titans),  North Shore, Mass. (Navigators), Brockton, Mass. (Rox), Pittsfield, Mass. (Suns), Old Orchard Beach, Maine (Raging Tides), and Wachusett, Mass. (Dirt Dawgs), according to the Mavericks web site.