Rent One Park announces name finalists for new baseball team

MARION, Ill. (KFVS) - Rent One Park has announced the finalists in their search for a new Prospect League baseball team name.

General Manger Dave Kost said out of the thousands of suggestions submitted online, Rent One Park has narrowed it down to five.

The top five names announced on Wednesday, December 7 and are as follows:

• Angry Beavers - Considered intelligent mammals
• Fungi - A nod to mushroom hunting in southern Illinois
• Monkey Rats - Slang for opossum
• Swamp Foxes - In honor of Revolutionary War hero General Francis ‘Swamp Fox’ Marion, which is who Marion, Ill. was named after
• Thrillbillies - Part hillbilly, part thrill-seeker

Rent One Park says fans can vote for their favorite team name online here and get their name entered into a contest drawing to win a pair of season tickets.

The deadline to vote is Dec. 31.

It has not been decided yet if the new team name will include Southern Illinois or Marion.

The new team name is expected to be announced in early 2023.

Rent One Park leaders announced it would join the summer collegiate Prospect League in late August.

This came about when the Black Diamond Family of Businesses bought the stadium in January 2022.

The stadium had been the home of the Frontier League team Southern Illinois Miners, which ceased operations at the end of their 2021 season.

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