The Edenton Steamers are a collegiate summer baseball team located in Edenton, North Carolina. Beginning in 2020 they will participate in the Tidewater Summer League. 2019 was the Steamers 22nd year as a member of the Coastal Plain League where they won 11 North Division titles and 7 East Division titles, three Petitt Cup Championships, and had a league-record 14-year streak (2004–2017) of posting a winning record, having made a playoff appearance in 13 of those seasons. Edenton also established a CPL standard by winning seven consecutive division-half titles from 2011 through the first half of 2014. In 2015 the Steamers capped the summer with its third Petitt Cup Championship, tied for the league record in that tally, and was named the Summer Collegiate Team of the Year by Perfect Game CrossChecker.
Steamers players are recruited from colleges around the United States. The team's nickname and logo reflects steamed clams.
The Edenton Steamers are not affiliated or otherwise associated with the Cleveland steamer.
CPL and the Steamers The Edenton Steamers began play in the Coastal Plain League (CPL) in 1998, the league's sophomore season and were members of the CPL's North Division along with the Martinsville Mustangs, Peninsula Pilots, and Wilson Tobs.
Steamers history
Historic Hicks Field The Edenton Steamers call Historic Hicks Field home, located adjacent to John A. Holmes High School on the corner of East Freemason and Woodward streets in Edenton, North Carolina and was built as a Work Projects Administration (WPA) project in 1939.
The main structure is an all-wood grandstand with a roof that was built to accommodate slightly more than 500 people. The main grandstand is the oldest remaining wooden grandstand of its type in North Carolina.
Hicks Field was home to minor league baseball and semipro teams up until 1952, including the Edenton Colonials of the original Coastal Plain League, the Albemarle League, and the Virginia League.
The Albemarle League was well known for its baseball prominence throughout the area as collegiate players would grace locales such as Elizabeth City, Hertford, Edenton, Windsor and Williamston for a summer full of great baseball.
Hicks Field was also the longtime spring training site for a number of Minor League teams during the 1940s, including Binghamton, New York and Reading, Pennsylvania. In 1995, Hicks Field was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
Players such as Bob Feller and other Major League all-stars have set foot inside this historic stadium. In 1946 Hicks Field played host to arguably one of the best games of that era as an Albemarle League all-star team faced off against a Major League all-star team composed of players from the Pittsburgh Pirates, New York Yankees, Washington Senators and Chicago White Sox. The Albemarle team was defeated but for the 4,500 in attendance they were treated to some of the best players in all of baseball.
In 1997 Hicks Field underwent extensive renovations, including a complete remodeling of the main grandstand behind home plate and the addition of two new grandstands, one down the first baseline and one down the third baseline. New bathrooms were built along with a manual wooden scoreboard that was placed above the fence in right field and a second deck was added to the left field fence to give Hicks a "Fenway Park" feel. After the renovations were complete, Hicks Field had grown in capacity to seat 1,200 people and now gives off a nostalgic feeling that can rival any major league baseball stadium.
In 1998 the Edenton Steamers were formed in the new Coastal Plain League and Hicks Field became the Steamers home ballpark. Hicks Field continues to host the Steamers, Edenton-Holmes High School baseball, and American Legion Post 40 contests, as well as various tournaments throughout the summer. Historic Hicks Field was home to the CPL All-Star game in 2001, when the North All-Stars defeated the South All-Stars 1-0, and was voted the No. 2 summer collegiate baseball venue in the nation by Baseball America (regarded as the definitive publication for the sport) in 2004. Historic Hicks Field is the smallest field in the CPL in both capacity and dimensions. It is 300 feet down the left field line, 336 feet to left-center, 350 feet to straightaway center field, 330 feet to right-center, and 298 feet along the right field line.
Early years and modern rebirth Throughout the 1940s and 1950s, the Edenton Colonials called Hicks Field home. The Colonials played in three different leagues: the Albemarle, the Virginia, and finally the Coastal Plain League (Class D) in 1952, folding after that season.
In 1997 Pete Bock visited Edenton and during lunch he overheard talk of an old baseball field that was in disrepair but had great potential. Bock, who was commissioner of the newly formed Coastal Plain League, was actively looking for places within the Carolinas and Virginia to place new franchises. From that lunch conversation, the idea for the Edenton Steamers was born.
On May 29, 1998 the Edenton franchise opened its inaugural season securing a 7-4 victory over Rocky Mount in 11 innings. In 1998 the Steamers played a 47-game schedule and finished 14-33, placing them 6th in the Coastal Plain League. The Steamers enjoyed its first winning record the second year of operations with a 27-23 mark in 1999.
The 2000 and 2001 summer seasons were not as successful for the Steamers as their season records dropped back to 20-24 and 21-29, respectively.
The 2002 campaign started more promisingly with the Steamers winning their first North Division championship in the first half of the season. Unfortunately the second half was plagued by injuries and the Steamers struggled in the latter stages, ending 9-15 and a 24-25 record for the season. The Edenton closer that summer, Ryan Sadowski, would later go on to pitch in the Major Leagues with the San Francisco Giants in 2009 as the second Steamer alumnus to reach The Show.
2003 was a frustrating year for Steamer fans as they produced the worst win–loss record ever in Edenton history at 12-34, placing last in both halves of the season in the North Division.
Joel Tremblay-David Scoggin era (2004–2006) The tide turned in 2004 with manager Joel Tremblay at the helm. A preview of what was in store came in the form of a 13-game winning streak to start the season, a feat that still stands as a league standard. The Steamers garnered both the first and second-half divisional titles en route to a 32-11-1 ledger and a then league-record .739 winning average. To cap off the "worst to first" turnaround, the Steamers also won the Petitt Cup Championship for the first time in franchise history, defeating arch-rival Outer Banks 13-2 in the title game. Edenton also boasted the individual ERA leader that summer in Daniel Gemma at 1.05.
With a first league championship under its belt, the momentum continued in 2005 with the return of manager Joel Tremblay. Edenton won the North Division first and second halves again and finished with a record of 34-19 for the season, the most wins ever in the CPL for a single season at the time. Edenton secured the top seed in the Petitt Cup tournament and defended its title beating Florence in the championship game by a score of 9-2 under the direction of promoted assistant coach David Scoggin, who assumed managerial duties midseason following a collegiate promotion for Tremblay. Mid-summer signee and second-half closer Joe Smith would go on to become a third-round draft selection of the New York Mets in 2006. He was the first former Steamer to appear in the Majors when he debuted for the New York Mets the following spring in 2007. Smith is currently part of the Houston Astros bullpen.
The Steamers strived to make the 2006 season a Coastal Plain League benchmark with a third consecutive championship. David Scoggin returned to lead the team to a fifth straight divisional title winning the first half of the season in the North. The five consecutive half titles was a league record until 2013 when the Steamers secured a sixth straight division title to finish the summer, en route to seven in a row following the 2014 first half. Edenton battled Peninsula in the second half for a sixth in a row but finished a game behind the Pilots. With a 34-20 tally going into the league playoffs, Edenton's run at history came to an end and the team was ousted in the first round of the tournament. This staff produced yet another closer that later reached the big leagues when Greg Holland appeared in 2010 for the Kansas City Royals, the Steamers third Major League alum, before becoming the Steamers' first Major League all-star in 2013; he repeated the feat in 2014 and 2017. Edenton's ace pitcher that summer, Evan Scribner, became the fourth alumnus to appear in the big leagues when he debuted for the San Diego Padres on April 26, 2011. Scribner has since appeared in the Oakland Athletics and Seattle Mariners bullpens, respectively, and is now a member of the Tampa Bay Rays organization.
Marty Smith-Jason Krug-Josh Scott era (2007–2010) Edenton hired a new manager for the 2007 season named Marty Smith. With his guidance, Edenton repeated their first and second-half divisional titles. Edenton recorded the best half-season record to date in franchise history (23-5 in the second half) and won the North by six games over Peninsula, finishing with a record of 39-16. Unfortunately, Edenton was dismissed again in the first round, this time by the Martinsville Mustangs. The win total stood as the most in club history until 2011. The passing of Edenton's organizational godmother, Gayle Gieseke, in the preceding fall inspired the creation of the Gieseke Gold Award and its inaugural winner was Brian Conley. Conley became the first Steamer to win a CPL batting title (.372). Edenton also featured the league-leaders in on-base average (Conley, .472), stolen bases (Kevin Mattison, 30), and ERA (J.P. Primus, 1.22). Conley (Orioles) and Mattison (Marlins; later Brewers and Nationals) went on to become professional ballplayers; Mattison later debuted in the Majors in 2012 with Miami. Pitcher Bobby Lanigan would become the highest-drafted Steamer player ever when the Minnesota Twins selected him 92nd overall (3rd round) in 2008.
2008 saw the Steamers register another first-half North Division championship with Jason Krug as manager. The season-ending 35-20 record earned Edenton the second seed in the postseason Petitt Cup tournament. Following two consecutive first-round eliminations, Edenton advanced to the final four before bowing out in the semifinals. A Steamer hitter took home the league batting crown for the second summer in a row when Brett Nommensen fashioned a then franchise-record .377 figure; he also paced the circuit with a .462 on-base average. Closer Luke Demko led the CPL in appearances (27) and saves (15, a Steamer record) and was rewarded with the Gieseke Gold Award for that summer. Nommensen went on to be drafted and play in the Tampa Bay Rays minor league system.