The Wilmington Sharks have released their schedule for the 2010 season. The regular season starts on Wednesday, May 26th and runs through Monday, August 2nd. The league’s annual All-Star Fan Fest and All-Star Game will be on July 19th and 20th. The location of the 2010 CPL All-Star Game will be announced in the near future.

The Wilmington Sharks will open their 2010 home schedule on Thursday, May 27th hosting the newest CPL franchise, the Morehead City Marlins. The Sharks will begin their season on the road in Asheboro on May 26th, against the Copperheads. The Sharks will end the first half of the season at home when they host the Thomasville HiToms on June 28th. The final regular season home game is scheduled for Sunday, August 1st against the Columbia Blowfish.

The Sharks 2010 schedule features a total of 18 games on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights including nine “Thirsty Thursdays.” In addition to 28 CPL games at the “Shark Tank” the Sharks will also be hosting three exhibition games for a total of 31 home dates in 2010. Please stay tuned to wilmingtonsharks.com for information on additional events.

Now heading into its 14th season, the Coastal Plain League features 15 teams across North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia. The 15 teams will be broken into three divisions (North, South and West). The Marlins will enter the league’s South Division, joining the Columbia Blowfish, Fayetteville SwampDogs, Florence RedWolves and Wilmington Sharks. Meanwhile, the Wilson Tobs will move from the South to the North Division. Joining the Tobs will be the Edenton Steamers, the Outer Banks Daredevils, the Peninsula Pilots and the Petersburg Generals. Finally, the West will stick with the same look as they had in 2009, and will be made up of the Asheboro Copperheads, the Forest City Owls, the Gastonia Grizzlies, the Martinsville Mustangs and the Thomasville HiToms.

All together, each team will play a 56-game schedule, with a large concentration on divisional games. In addition, the schedule will remain a split-format one, with 28 games per club in the first half and another 28 in the second half.

The Petitt Cup Playoffs will consist of three rounds beginning on August 4th and running through August 14th. The Playoffs were a big hit for fans and teams alike in 2009, and fans will notice that the first round of the 2010 Petitt Cup Playoffs has moved from a single-elimination game to a best two-of-three series. Four teams – divisional first half winners and the club with the next-best overall winning percentage on the regular season – will qualify to host game one of the first round.

The remaining four teams will be comprised of three second half divisional champions and/or the teams with the next-highest overall winning percentages on the regular season. Game two will be at the other team’s ballpark in the series, while Round 1 game three will be hosted by the higher seed in the series.(Note: If a club wins its respective divisional first or second half championship, then it will automatically earn a berth into the Petitt Cup Playoffs). Seeding will be based on overall winning percentage at the end of the season with the team with the best winning percentage earning the top seed and so forth.

After the first round, the four remaining teams will match-up based on seeds, so if the top four seeds all advance to the second round, then the series would be No.1 vs. No.4 and No.2 vs. No.3. The second round will be a best two-of-three series with game one being at the lowest seed’s ballpark (i.e. No. 4) and then game two and three at the higher seed’s ballpark (i.e. No. 1). The two winners of those second round series will advance to the Petitt Cup Championship Series with the same rules applying as in the second round. The team winning two games in this series will be crowned the 2010 Coastal Plain League Petitt Cup Champion.

The Coastal Plain League is the nation’s hottest summer collegiate baseball league, heading into its 14th season. Featuring 15 teams playing in North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia, the CPL gives college players the chance to refine their skills with wooden bats during the summer months. Players are housed with local host families for the summer and past experiences have been very positive for both players and hosts. For more information on the Coastal Plain League, please visit the league website at http://www.coastalplain.com. For more information on the Wilmington Sharks please call (910) 343-5621 or log onto www.wilmingtonsharks.com.