KILL DEVIL HILLS, N.C. — Baseball is back in the Outer Banks. The area's new team, the Outer Banks Flying Dutchmen, kicked off their inaugural season and are set for their home opener on June 3.
"The Outer Banks Flying Dutchmen is the newest iteration of wood bat collegiate summer league baseball here in the Outer Banks, and this will be our first year," said Tom Hoggard, general manager of the team.
This is the first time since 2023 the Outer Banks will have a team of this kind. It's part of The Old North State League, comprising 24 teams in North Carolina.
"All of these teams have a roster that is made up of college baseball players, and these are all guys that go to different schools throughout the year, but that have aspirations of playing professional baseball one day," Hoggard said. "For these guys, sort of their first taste of what it's like to use a wooden bat and sort of play what's akin to professional baseball."
Hoggard says there's a ton of excitement surrounding the team already, who will play their home games at the First Flight Complex.
“We're getting great community support. I feel really confident that we're putting a product in place here that is going to be entertaining and enjoyed by the public and that will be sustainable," he said.
Hoggard says there is still a need for host families for the players during their seven weeks in the Outer Banks for the season. He encourages anyone who has the ability to house a player to reach out on the team's website under the "community" tab here.
"In speaking with families who have done this before, it's been a great experience for them, especially families who have young children. In fact, I was just talking with one of our players who was excited about moving in with his host family, probably later today, and the first thing he wanted to know was, do they have kids. He wanted somebody to throw a baseball with, and so I know that's one of the things that that really makes it beneficial for the host families," he shared.
