The Appalachian League is a summer collegiate baseball league that is part of the MLB and USA Baseball Prospect Development Pipeline, a pathway for amateur baseball players in the United States and is an integral part of the identification and development process for the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team and other future national teams.
The League is comprised of 10 Clubs in deep in the heart of the Appalachia Region of the United States: Bluefield, Virginia and West Virginia; Bristol, Virginia; Burlington, North Carolina; Danville, Virginia; Elizabethton, Tennessee; Greeneville, Tennessee; Huntington, West Virginia; Johnson City, Tennessee; Kingsport, Tennessee; and Pulaski, Virginia.
The Appalachian League is one of the longest-running baseball leagues in the history of professional baseball. It began in 1911; However, it disbanded in the middle of the 1914 season. The league reformed in 1921 before again closing midway through 1925. A third iteration of the Appalachian League started in 1937 and found success paying during World War II while other Minor Leagues ceased operations before once again folding in 1955.
The modern Appalachian League began in 1957, its first year as a short-season league for Minor League Baseball, and underwent a new transformation in 2021 as it became a summer collegiate baseball league in partnership with MLB and USA Baseball.
- Years of Operation: 1921-25, ’37-’55, ’57-present
- Classification: Summer collegiate league
- Schedule: June 5-July 30, 2025
- Playoffs: Top two teams in each division meet in a semifinal matchup with the winners advancing to a single-game championship
