Ballantyne Smokies History
The team was originally named Carolina Sox and started in 1992 by the original owner, Bill Capps. At the time it was established as the first travel team west of Raleigh, NC and drew players from both North and South Carolina. It was established for the purpose of assisting players in being seen by college coaches and finding colleges for the players to attend and play baseball.
The Carolina Sox fielded teams for high school players through 2009. Over 96% of the players who played for the Carolina Sox went on to play college baseball. More than 50 players went on to play professional baseball, with 3 players playing Major League Baseball. Many of the players went on to become high school and college coaches. Two players were featured on the front of Baseball America as All Americans.
The Carolina Sox were recognized as one of the top travel teams on the east coast in their early years and have a very rich history. That history has carried over to the Carolina Sox college team, where many of the players who played college baseball have been drafted and have also gone on to coach college baseball.
In 1995 the Carolina Sox formed an independent college summer team that played teams in VA, TN, NC, SC, and GA. The team was very successful and eventually joined with other similar teams to play a regular season schedule and several tournaments.
In 1999 Bill Capps talked with each of the teams already playing together and formed the Southern Collegiate Baseball League. Initially, the League had 12 teams. Since that time, each team has either been sold or dropped out of the League and replaced by different teams.
The Carolina Sox changed names over this period of time and played as the Rock Hill Sox, again as the Carolina Sox, the Carolina Thunder, the Carolina Stingers, and now, as the Ballantyne Smokies. Bill Capps has been the primary owner of the team since its beginning, but decided to sell part of the team to Chad Tracy, John Spencer, and John DeMaine. With new partners who will be responsible for the everyday operations of the team, it was decided to relocate the team to the Ballantyne area. Ardrey Kell’s Head Coach, Hal Bagwell, was contacted about the use of his field during the summer and the move was complete.
Now, for the first time, the Carolina Sox will play as the Ballantyne Smokies in the Ballantyne area of Charlotte, NC. The out of town players will stay with Host Families and we know the inaugural season will be one to be remembered. The team is recruiting many of the top college players around and should compete for the number 1 spot in the League this summer.
The Ballantyne Smokies is the oldest team in the League with the only original owner still part of the team. We hope many of you will come to the games and enjoy the Minor League atmosphere while watching the talent of the young players the team has assembled. Many of the players you watch this summer will have the opportunity to play professionally in the future. We want you to enjoy collecting autographs of your favorite players along with team memorabilia of our inaugural season.
See you at the ball park.
