Semi-pro summer baseball is coming to Livingston County.
The Michigan Monarchs will be playing their home games at Lake Trust Stadium at Cleary University in Howell this summer, with their first home game of the season set for June 7th.
The team, owned by State Rep. James DeSana (R-Carleton), play in the Great Lakes Summer Collegiate League (GLSCL). It is affiliated with the National Alliance of College Summer Baseball. Comprised of teams with college baseball players from around North America, the league is sanctioned and supported by Major League Baseball. Players are not paid, however, so they can maintain their NCAA eligibility.
The Monarchs most recently played at Siena Heights University in Adrian, but are making the move to Cleary.
According to the team’s website, the 2023 season will be the 22nd year for the franchise. Founded in 1999, the team played its first few seasons in Carleton, Michigan before moving to Toledo, Ohio in 2004 where they played at Ned Skeldon Stadium, former home of the Toledo Mud Hens,.
Eventually, the team started playing some of their home games at Nicolay Field in Adrian, before moving to Flat Rock in 2014. After five seasons, the Monarchs moved back to Adrian, where they played at Siena Heights Baseball Field through 2022.
The Monarchs will play 19 home games at Cleary’s Lake Trust Field in 2023, and in fact, a post on their Facebook page is asking for “Host Families in the Howell, Brighton, Pinckney, Hartland area.”
