ACC moves step closer to naming new host city for baseball tournament
By: will-vandervort May 16, 2019

Atlantic Coast Conference Commissioner John Swofford said Thursday, as the conference wrapped up its annual spring meetings in Amelia Island, Florida, the league has made progress on where it will host its Baseball Championships going forward.

The Durham, North Carolina Sports Commission announced last week that Durham Bulls Athletic Park will not be able to host the tournament anytime soon because of the International League’s new policy on blocking out dates needed for such events. The cities of Charlotte and Louisville were also knocked out of the running of potential host sites because of the new International League’s policy.

“We are making progress on that as we address a lot of our championships here,” Swofford told The Clemson Insider and a handful of ACC and national media writers who covered the spring meetings at the Ritz-Carlton. “Several of them, we have a ‘T’ to cross and an ‘I’ to dot here and there, but in a couple of weeks we will be ready to announce not only (Baseball’s) championship, but a number of others as well.”

Clemson athletic director Dan Radakovich told TCI earlier in the week he is a strong advocate for the ACC Baseball Championships coming back to South Carolina. The Palmetto State has not hosted the ACC Baseball Tournament since 1995 when Greenville was the host city.

TCI learned in March Greenville’s Fluor Field and Pelicans Ballpark in Myrtle Beach are two of the venues that are being considered by the ACC to host the 2020 championships and future championships as well.

“I would think that both of those places are in great spots as it relates to their bid,” Radakovich said. “We don’t know all the details of that yet. We will learn that this week.”

The 2019 ACC Baseball Championships will run May 21-26 at Durham Bulls Athletic Park in Durham. It will be the last time the iconic Durham Bulls will host the tournament in the near future. Since 2011, Durham has hosted the ACC Tournament six times.

Swofford admitted he was surprised by the International League’s new policy about holding dates.

“It took Durham out of the mix. That part of it was a surprise,” he said. “Durham has been good to us in terms of the tournament being there. It is a terrific facility and the support they have given it has been outstanding.”