 Adam Hall and his Delmarva Shorebirds, Class-A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles, have released their schedule for the 2020 season. The schedule includes 70 home contests at Arthur W. Perdue Stadium, including 11 weekend series and home games on Memorial Day weekend and the Fourth of July.
The Shorebirds begin their silver anniversary 25th season in the South Atlantic League with a weeklong homestand from Thursday, April 9 through Wednesday, April 15th. Delmarva opens up the campaign with four games against the Asheville Tourists, affiliate of the Colorado Rockies. After the Asheville series wraps up with a doubleheader on Saturday, the Shorebirds will have Easter Sunday off before welcoming in the Lakewood BlueClaws (Phillies) for three games to kick off the fourth annual Shore Series rivalry.
After playing four of their next five series on the road, with a four-game home set against the Hickory Crawdads (Rangers) set for April 23rd 26th, the Shorebirds host a six-game homestand on May 5th 10th against the Greenville Drive (Red Sox) and Hagerstown Suns (Nationals), the latter of which restarts the Governor's Cup rivalry between the SAL's two Maryland teams. Delmarva has won the traveling trophy - christened by Gov. Larry Hogan at Perdue Stadium in June 2018 - two seasons in a row.
Delmarva plays host to six games in a row from May 19-24 against the Kannapolis Intimidators (White Sox) and Greensboro Grasshoppers (Pirates), including home games on Memorial Day weekend from May 22nd 24th. The Shorebirds are on the road at Lakewood for Memorial Day itself.
The Shorebirds close the first half home slate with a three-game set against Lakewood on June 15th 17th before playing four games in Hickory leading into the All-Star Break from June 22nd 24th. The three-day break features the 61st Annual South Atlantic League All-Star Game at State Mutual Stadium in Rome, Georgia, on Tuesday, June 23rd.
After the All-Star Break, the Shorebirds open the second half with three home series out of four, hosting Hagerstown and Greensboro from June 25th 30th. Following a quick three-game jaunt to Lakewood, Delmarva hosts Hagerstown again for Independence Day weekend. The Fourth of July falls on a Saturday this year, and the Shorebirds and Suns will play four games that weekend extending into Tuesday, July 7th. Delmarva beat their in-state rivals on July 4th this season in front of a sellout crowd of 7,576. The Shorebirds then spend the bulk of July on the road.
August features 16 home dates, the most of any month in 2020. The Shorebirds have two long homestands in August. Kannapolis and Greensboro come to town for a seven-game stand on August 7th 13th, and another seven-game package follows on August 17th 23rd against rivals Lakewood and Hagerstown.
The Shorebirds' final home series of the year will be September 1st 4th against the Lexington Legends (Royals), and the team will close the 2020 campaign on the road at Hickory over Labor Day weekend, September 5th 7th.
In addition to assorted road trips to Northern Division rivals Greensboro, Hagerstown, Hickory, Lakewood, Kannapolis, and West Virginia (Mariners), the Shorebirds make visits to several Southern Division foes, calling upon Asheville, Charleston (Yankees), Augusta (Giants), Lexington, and Greenville. Delmarva is not scheduled to play the Columbia Fireflies (Mets) or the Rome Braves in 2020.
|
