My universe has 5 different high school level or as I prefer to call them "Baseball Academy" level leagues. The 3 biggest leagues are the Florida Academy League, The Northeast Academy League and the Western Academy League. Each of those leagues have 2 subleagues of 8 teams each and like the college league play a 120 game schedule from late January until early June finishing with a best of 5 championship series between each subleague winner. There is no national academy championship at this stage of the universe. There are also 2 six-team leagues: The Midwest League and the MidAtlantic League.
I have modified some of the team names recently to take advantage of the great logos, uniforms and caps created by this community.
Here is a brief look at each of the 5 leagues. I have added the current standings so you can get an idea of the team names as players progress through the league and when I reference the academy career of big leaguer.
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FLORIDA ACADEMY STANDINGS Feb 23, 1939
Atlantic League W L GB Gulf League W L GB
Daytona Beach Cubs 21 9 - Sarasota Stone Crabs 19 10 -
Palm Beach Cardinals 21 10 0.5 Bradenton Mauraders 19 10 -
Jacksonville Whales 19 9 1.0 Tallahassee Rebels 17 13 2.5
Ft Lauderdale Lobsters 14 15 6.5 Port Charlotte Anglers 16 13 3.0
Miami Beach Pelicans 13 16 7.5 Pensacola Bees 15 16 5.0
Key West Conchs 12 17 8.5 Panama City Flamingos 12 19 8.0
Orlando Sun Sox 12 19 9.5 St Petersburg Redbirds 10 18 8.5
Jupiter Hammerheads 6 23 14.5 Lakeland Pilots 10 19 9.0
The Florida Academy League draws players from across the southeastern United States and an occassional player or two from Carribean countries. One such foreign player made a big impact in the most recent World Series as Celerino Ochoa, a native of Cuba, went 14 for 32 with 2 homeruns and 9 rbi's to help the New York Giants beat the Yankees in a 7 game World Series. The 33 year old Ochoa got his start in baseball with the Bradenton Mauraders before being selected by the Giants in the second round of the 1925 draft.
The two most dominant teams in the Florida Academy League are the Pensacola Bees and the Jacksonville Whales. The Bees have won 11 Gulf League titles in the 38 years of the league along with 7 Florida Series titles. The Whales have won 10 pennants in the Atlantic League including the last 2 in a row and have 4 Florida Series titles to their credit.
The Northeast League has developed more pro players than any of the 5 Academy Leagues. It is comprised of players born in the northeastern United States with the occassional Canadian also entering the league. The 2 leagues are called the Cape Cod League and the Metro NY League.
Here are the current standings for this season to give you a full list of teams in the league.
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NORTHEAST ACADEMY STANDINGS Feb 23, 1939
CAPE COD LEAGUE W L GB METRO NY League W L GB
Cotuit Kettlers 19 10 - Brooklyn Bees 18 11 -
Bourne Braves 18 13 2.0 Staten Island Ports 16 13 2.0
Falmouth Commodores 16 13 3.0 Long Island Ducks 16 13 2.0
Chatham Anglers 17 14 3.0 Bronx Bombers 17 14 2.0
Brewster Whitecaps 13 16 6.0 Queens Monarchs 15 13 2.5
Yarmouth Red Sox 13 17 6.5 Manhattan Pigeons 14 16 4.5
Harwich Mariners 12 17 7.0 Coney Island Tigers 12 19 7.0
Hyannis Harbor Hawks 10 18 8.5 Yonkers Bears 10 19 8.0
The league has been quite balanced over its previous 38 years with every team winning at least one pennant and only Brooklyn and Coney Island failing to win a Northeast Series title. The Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox of the Cape Cod League led the way with 6 Northeast Championships (and 9 pennants). Long Island tops the Metro League with 9 pennants and is one 4 teams to win 4 Northeast Series Championships - joined by Brewster, Cotuit and Manhattan.
The Western Academy League is the last of the 3 16-team groupings. Players come from the southwest and pacific United States as well as a few from Mexico. The Los Angeles Chargers were the first dynasty as they won 6 pennants and 4 Western Series in the league's first 6 years of existance from 1901-06. Since then it has been mainly hard times for the Chargers squad but their 6 Western Series titles and 10 Pacific League pennants still top the loop. Two Desert League teams in the Utah Stars and Central Texas Comets are tied for second with 5 Western Series titles each.
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WESTERN ACADEMY STANDINGS Feb 23, 1939
PACIFIC LEAGUE W L GB DESERT LEAGUE W L GB
Hawaii Islanders 22 6 - Austin Marshalls 16 12 -
Dakota Loggers 20 10 3.0 Salt Lake Gulls 15 14 1.5
Northern Cal Stars 16 13 6.5 North Texas Cubs 15 14 1.5
San Francisco Miners 14 15 8.5 New Mexico Aztecs 15 14 1.5
Oregon Timbers 13 16 9.5 Oklahoma Oilers 15 15 2.0
Arizona Desert Dogs 12 17 10.5 West Texas Spiders 15 16 2.5
California Seals 11 20 12.5 Central Texas Comets 14 15 2.5
Los Angeles Chargers 10 21 13.5 Utah Stars 13 18 4.5
The player to watch in the Pacific League is 18 year old Hawaii Islanders outfielder Sam Fuller. A winner of back to back Pacific League MVP's, the 6'3" native of San Marcos, California is expected to be a sure fire first round back in the major league draft. He is hitting .415 with 11 homers and 39 rbi's in 28 games and plays at a very hitter friendly park which means he has an outside chance of surpassing Charlie Mongan's (now with Cleveland Indians) mark of 107 career homeruns. Fuller presently sits at 70.
Sam Herrera has all the makings of being a future major league superstar and is the player to keep an eye on in the Desert League. Just 16 years old and, like Fuller a native of San Marcos, California, the righthander has taken the Desert loop by storm going 6-0 with a 2.21 era in his first 7 starts and is a big reason why the Austin Marshalls are in first place.
The other two Academy Leagues consist of just 6 teams each and while they both still play 120 game seasons, neither has a post-season. The Midwest Academy League consists of players from the midwestern United States as well as Ontario, Canada while the MidAtlantic League features players from the atlantic area states.
Here are the current standings in each league
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MIDWEST ACADEMY STANDINGS Feb 23, 1939
W L GB
St Louis Arches 11 6 -
Fort Wayne Tincaps 10 7 1.0
Ohio Redcoats 9 8 2.0
Pennsylvania Nationals 8 9 3.0
Michigan Lakers 8 9 3.0
Chicagoland Bombers 5 12 6.0
MID-ATLANTIC ACADEMY STANDINGS Feb 23, 1939
W L GB
Carolina Kings 11 6 -
Virigina Beach Colonials 10 7 1.0
Washington DC Chiefs 9 8 2.0
Philadelphia Quakers 7 10 4.0
Milford Sandpipers 7 10 4.0
District Capitals 7 10 4.0
The Pennsylvania Nationals have won 6 of the last 9 Midwest Academy titles and 14 overall. Fort Wayne, on the strength of 2 championships in the past 3 years is now second with 8 league crowns.
The Carolina Kings have dominated the Mid-Atlantic Academy loop winning 12 league titles. The Quakers, with 7, are next followed by the 6 won by Virigina Beach.