Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

After a three-year hiatus from the fields due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Outer Banks Daredevils baseball team is making a comeback for the 2023 summer season. The team will be competing in the Premier Collegiate League with a 42-game schedule that will run from June 1 through August 5 of next year. And if that isn’t exciting enough, the 2023 All Star Game will also be held here in Dare County, hosted by the Outer Banks Daredevils.

General manager Michael Dooley shared that it was “heartbreaking” to not see the team play for three seasons, but is looking forward to gear up, get back on the field and get involved in the Dare County community once again. “I believe wholeheartedly in the value of a summer baseball team in a community and all the good it can do,” he shared with The Coastland Times.  

Over the years, the Daredevils players have contributed thousands of hours of community service to Dare County, through reading to children at local libraries, working elementary school field days, volunteering at local nonprofits and much more. 7,500 hours of community service have been recorded, along with over $50,000 raised for local charities at ballpark events and over $90,000 provided to Dare County through field rental fees.

The collegiate team runs baseball camps for local kids and has partnered with both Dare Coalition Against Substance Abuse and Dare County Friends of Youth. Host families have welcomed players who have become integral parts of the family unit, serving as “big brothers” and mentors for younger children. “People never see [all of that],” Dooley noted, “You can’t really write it up in its fullness, the extent of reach, of what can happen with a collegiate baseball program in the summer in a community. That has got a lot of depth.”

The Daredevils baseball team has welcomed new integral additions: Jason Howell as team president and Zach Alexander as head coach. Howell currently serves as the assistant baseball coach at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, where he formerly played collegiate ball. He will be working with the front office of the Daredevils baseball team during the 2023 season. Howell and his wife Meredith’s family are generational property owners on the Outer Banks, familiar with the area and excited to work with the team. Meredith has been named vice president.

Alexander is the head coach of the Manteo High School baseball team; this will be his first year coaching in the Premier Collegiate League. He spent six seasons at North Carolina Wesleyan and served two seasons as a volunteer assistant coach there. Alexander is a two-time USA South All-Conference performer at first base and played for Wesleyan during a pair of conference championships.

“I grew up in Virginia Beach and had a cousin that played for the Daredevils,” Alexander shared. “I got to see firsthand what it was like.” He added, “I think it’s going to be good to get college baseball back in Outer Banks; it’s good for our community.”

As the team kicks it into high gear, the Daredevils are in need of community support. Sponsors, host families and volunteers are welcome and asked to visit the team’s website to sign up and for more information: outerbanksdaredevils.com. All who are interested in supporting the team are also welcome to reach out to Dooley at daredevilsobx@gmail.com.

Keep a lookout, more exciting news for the Outer Banks Daredevils baseball team to be announced soon.

READ ABOUT MORE NEWS HERE.

SUBSCRIBE TO THE COASTLAND TIMES TODAY!