Inaugural game, season just ahead for Down East Bird Dawgs
KINSTON, N.C. (WNCT) — It's just a few days until the inaugural game for the Down East Bird Dawgs at Grainger Stadium in Kinston.
Baseball is back in the town after the Down East Wood Ducks left at the end of last season. It's a place rich in baseball history.
'Oh, man, there's so much history here,' Director of Broadcasting & Media Relations Spencer Pattison said. 'I mean, just looking back at the teams that have played here, the players that have come through here, there's just so much history.'
When the news came that the Wood Ducks would be leaving and moving to Spartanburg, S.C., many people in the area had serious doubts about the future of the sport in the city.
'I think the community here around Kinston was kind of scared and upset when the Wood Ducks packed up and left town,' Director of Marketing, Promotions & Fan Experience Kris Dumschat said. 'I think that a lot of people thought, is there going to be baseball still around?'
The announcement soon followed that the Bird Dawgs would be coming to town as an expansion team in the Frontier League, a partner league of the MLB.
'It's been chaos, but it's also been really exciting because everything we've been working toward since we launched the team in October is finally coming,' Dumschat said. 'There's a lot that we have done to not only enhance the stadium, but also keep the historic feel to it as we don't want to lose those kind of traditional values. The towns that have had baseball for a while, that's where it's meant to be and I think this town embodies that.'
The Bird Dawgs are hoping to embrace the past with an eye on the future. 'And I think what's really great is that we are locally owned now. So, as long as fans continue to come out and support this team, this team is going to be here to stay,' Dumschat said. 'Because when the community invests in it, just like the community of owners invested into this, the team is going to be here to stay and we're going to be able to have a lot of fun and do a lot of great things for the community.'
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WNCT.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


CBS News
40 minutes ago
- CBS News
Minnesota Lynx star Napheesa Collier earns 2nd Player of the Week award this season
Minnesota Lynx superstar Napheesa Collier has earned her second Western Conference Player of the Week award this season, adding another accolade to her MVP-level year. Collier's latest honor covers two Lynx games, during which she averaged 23 points, 10.5 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 2 steals and 1.5 blocks. She logged a double-double in each game. The 28-year-old forward was named the West's Player of the Week for the first four games of the season and Player of the Month for May. Collier leads the WNBA this season in points per game (25.5), steals per game (2.2), player efficiency rating (32.1) and win shares (2.4). Her play has the Lynx off to a 9-0 start, matching how the Lynx began their last championship season in 2017. Last season, Collier finished second in MVP voting behind the Las Vegas Aces' A'ja Wilson. She's having another stellar season for the Aces, but if Collier continues at her current level of play, it'll be hard for voters to deny her the first MVP award of her career. Collier also made the All-WNBA First Team last year and was named Defensive Player of the Year amid the Lynx's surprising but ultimately unavailing run to the WNBA Finals. She also won a gold medal with Team USA at the Summer Olympics. Since then, she's had a productive offseason. She was named the MVP of Unrivaled, the 3-on-3 basketball league she co-founded, and TIME magazine listed her among its 100 Most Influential People.


New York Times
an hour ago
- New York Times
Lee Corso's final ‘College GameDay' to come at Ohio State in Week 1
Lee Corso's final mascot headgear pick for 'College GameDay' will come at Ohio State, where it all began. ESPN's flagship college football show will go to Columbus, Ohio, in Week 1, where the Buckeyes will face Texas in what is expected to be a top-five matchup. ESPN said in April that the 89-year-old Corso would retire after Week 1 of the upcoming season, giving him a celebratory sendoff, but it did not name the location. There was some speculation the show could go to the Florida State-Alabama game, as Corso played at FSU in the 1950s alongside actor Burt Reynolds (and because Ohio State-Texas will be broadcast on Fox). 📍 Week 1: Columbus, OH We're kicking off College GameDay with a trip to Texas-Ohio State, as we celebrate Lee Corso's final show back where he first made headgear history! 🤩 — College GameDay (@CollegeGameDay) June 10, 2025 But the show will send Corso off where the headgear picks began. While Corso has been on the show since its inception in 1987, his first mascot pick came at Ohio State in 1996 for the Buckeyes' game against Penn State. Corso has made 430 headgear picks, from Buckeyes to animals to helmets to full-on costumes. He's correctly picked 66.5 percent of those choices, according to ESPN, including a perfect 11-0 in 1999. Brutus Buckeye has been the most popular pick, chosen 45 times, with Alabama just behind at 38. 'When it was our game, I was always hoping he didn't pick us,' Nick Saban said in April, 'because I knew the players were watching and I wanted reverse rat poison.' Coach Lee Corso by the numbers 🤯 🐻 430 mascot headgear picks🏈 66.5% win rate of picks all-time🏆 Perfect season = 1999 More on LC's 38 years on @CollegeGameDay: — ESPN PR (@ESPNPR) April 17, 2025 'My family and I will be forever indebted for the opportunity to be part of ESPN and 'College GameDay' for nearly 40 years,' Corso said in a news release in April. 'I have a treasure of many friends, fond memories and some unusual experiences to take with me into retirement.'


CBS News
an hour ago
- CBS News
Sacramento Railyards soccer stadium plan faces key city council vote
A key Sacramento city council vote deciding the future of Republic FC's new soccer stadium is set for Tuesday. Plans for Republic FC's new home, an expandable 12,000-seat facility, can't come to life without figuring out how to cover infrastructure in the area – things like roadways, pedestrian bike lanes, and traffic lights that the city estimates will to cost north of $90 million. Tuesday's vote will be to approve a special tax district that the city is looking to use to cover the cost. "I think this one is a good investment. We're not investing, subsidizing the stadium," said Sacramento Mayor Kevin McCarty. The Railyards development will cost an estimated $321 million at least, according to city numbers, with most of it privately funded, like Republic FC's stadium and the area around it. Developers of the project – including Indomitable Ventures, formed by Republic FC – would pay for the infrastructure costs up front, then be reimbursed through funds generated by the special tax district. "We're subsidizing the infrastructure by giving a return on property taxes that but for this project wouldn't be generated anyways," McCarty said. If approved by the council, the deal would commit the city to paying more than $90 million to the project developers in the form of future tax revenue from the soccer stadium and central shops. McCarty says construction would start this year if the plan passes. The stadium is planned to be opened by 2027.