Photo: Jared Brosnan/WBZ NewsRadio
LOWELL, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — High-level summer baseball is coming back to Lowell.
The Futures Collegiate Baseball League and UMass Lowell announced plans Wednesday to bring a team to the university's Edward A. LeLacheur Park in May 2026.
The FCBL, which currently consists of six teams throughout New England, is a collegiate summer baseball league that allows athletes to develop their skills and gain exposure to Major League Baseball scouts.
"Lowell and LeLacheur Park is a place to bring your family, it’s a place for great summer baseball, and we’re excited to be bringing summer baseball back to Lowell," UMass Lowell Chancellor Julie Chen said at Wednesday's signing ceremony.
1 of 2 Photo: Jared Brosnan/WBZ NewsRadio
2 of 2 Photo: Jared Brosnan/WBZ NewsRadio
The ballpark previously served as the home for the Lowell Spinners, a former Minor League Baseball team affiliated with the Boston Red Sox. The Spinners became defunct in 2020 when Major League Baseball restructured the MiLB and dropped several teams.
"When the Lowell Spinners left here in 2020, we were all crushed," said Lowell City Councilor Erik Gitschier, who helped spearhead efforts to bring an FCBL team to the city. "Our community lost premier baseball, family events, friendships. Even though we never got to see one of our kids from the neighborhood play for them, families still enjoyed the atmosphere. And if you enjoyed that atmosphere, wait ‘til you see the FCBL."
Acknowledging the late state representative and namesake of the ballpark, Gitschier said, "I’m sure Mr. LeLacheur is looking down and seeing that this park will be about community, it’ll be about family, it’ll be about everything he was for as a state rep and a person," Gitschier said.
WBZ's Jared Brosnan reports.