The Atlantic League of Professional Baseball (ALPB), the most innovative league in baseball, today announced its 2016 Championship Season schedule. The 140-game schedule will feature the ALPB defending champion Somerset Patriots hosting the Long Island Ducks on Thursday, April 21, 2016 in a rematch of the 2015 Liberty Division playoffs.

The league's other Opening Day games include the league's new franchise based in New Britain, CT, traveling to York, Southern Maryland visiting Lancaster, and Sugar Land taking on Bridgeport. On Tuesday, May 3, 2016, Somerset will travel to Southern Maryland for rematch of the Atlantic League's 2015 Championship Series, which was won by the Patriots in four games.

The league is implementing a balanced schedule where each club will play every other team 20 times over the course of the season. The Sugar Land Skeeters will host each club three times in 2016, up from two such series in recent years. The schedule also incorporates the Atlantic League's newest entry, the yet-to-be named ball club located in New Britain, CT.

"New Britain joins us at an exciting time," said Rick White, President of the Atlantic League. "In 2015, we saw record attendance, shorter game times based on the league's pioneering pace-of-play initiatives, and the reintroduction of red and blue stitched baseballs in a professional league for the first time since 1934."

The ALPB All-Star break will punctuate the regular season from Monday, July 11 through Thursday, July 14. The league will announce the host club of the 2016 All-Star Game in the next two weeks. Regular season play will take place over 151 days and is scheduled to conclude on Sunday, September 18. The best-of-five Division Series is slated to begin Wednesday, September 21 and the best-of-five Atlantic League Championship Series will pit the Freedom and Liberty Division winners against each other starting Wednesday, September 25.

About The Atlantic League

The Atlantic League is the most innovative league in professional baseball, offers the highest level of minor league baseball playing skills, and is a player gateway to Major League Baseball. Its mission is to bring a high level of professional baseball and affordable family entertainment to select communities not presently being served by Major League or Minor League teams. ALPB players are highly experienced professionals, having progressed through professional baseball’s developmental levels (A, AA, AAA). Over 40% of all Atlantic League players have Major League service time. Like MLB, Atlantic League clubs pay their players to win baseball games, not to apprentice as in baseball’s developmental levels. The following teams play in the Atlantic League: Bridgeport Bluefish, Lancaster Barnstormers, Long Island Ducks, Somerset Patriots, Southern Maryland Blue Crabs, Sugar Land Skeeters, and York Revolution. In 2016, the league’s newest club will be based in New Britain, CT.