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Utica Pro Baseball League Unveils Names Of Teams To Play At New Ballpark

UTICA (CBS Detroit) - The Utica Unicorns, Eastside Diamond Hoppers and Birmingham Bloomfield Beavers will play ball at Jimmy John's Field in downtown Utica in 2016.

The newly-formed United Shore Professional Baseball League (USPBL) unveiled the team names, along with their logos and mascots, on Monday following a fan vote competition.

In a media release, the league explained the Utica Unicorns were so-name to be "lovable yet fierce" and the Diamond Hoppers were named to represent a "fly" ball catching frog one might see capturing fish flies along Lake St. Clair. (The latter logo purportedly featuring first-ever use of an orange and green color scheme in professional sports). No official explanation was made for the Beavers.

The announcement took place at Utica's Eppler Junior High School, not far from the sit of the $12 million, 4,000-seat ballpark currently under construction at the corner of Auburn Road and Mascone Drive, near M-59.

"This league and these teams will bring a professional baseball experience like no other to this region," said Andy Appleby, league founder, president and chief executive officer of Rochester, Michigan-based General Sports and Entertainment. "The USPBL will be competitive, affordable, community-focused and tremendous fun for fans of every age."

Each team in the this independent league will play a 50-game season, for a total of 75 games per season.

The land where the ballpark is being built is owned by the Utica Downtown Development Authority and will be leased to General Sports and Entertainment. It was a former unlicensed landfill in the mid 1900s. [Read more here].

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