Quakertown Blazers won't be playing baseball at Memorial Park this summer

The Quakertown Blazers won't be playing their 40th Atlantic Collegiate Baseball League season this summer.

The primary reason is the planned renovations to Memorial Park by Quakertown Borough and the inability to find another suitable site where the ACBL's other 15 teams could play games, according to Blazers general manager Chris Ray.

But the Blazers' future in 2024 and beyond is up in the air even when the renovations are complete.

"That will depend on the completion of the stadium renovation as well as finding more people who are interested in helping with game day prep and/or operations," Ray said. "We have a few people that have expressed interest but we need the right amount of people doing the right things to make it operate at the rate that Tom and George (Bonekemper) had it operating at for years. If we can get back to that level organizationally, we will return."

George and once ever-present twin brother Tom, who died in June 2022, founded the Blazers in 1984, when Clyde Smoll, the Bonekempers and Denny Robison moved the defunct Allentown Wings, featuring MLB pitchers Jamie Moyer and Terry Mulholland, to Quakertown. Tom served as ACBL president for 25 years and the Bonekempers were instrumental to the Blazers' day-to-day existence.

"Geography is a problem with Allentown dropping out and no other area communities involved," said George Bonekemper, who gave up his GM duties in 2019, on Monday. "All the teams in the ACBL are in New Jersey/New York area. This creates a travel situation with time and expense.

"Hopefully, by some miracle, they can return next year."

The Blazers' account tweeted this last June 17: "39 seasons in which we feel we have given our players & our community our best effort every summer. Increased costs and our refusal to put that on our players have us struggling. Please help ensure the future of Quakertown Blazers Baseball." A GoFundMe account raised $2,595 of its $10,000 goal.

Quakertown captured seven ACBL titles, the latest of which was in 2018 with Ray. Robison was manager for the other six (1986-87, '89, 1993, '98 and 2005). At least 10 Blazers made it to the majors, including current pitchers Lou Trivino (Yankees) and Tim Mayza (Blue Jays).

The Blazers won their inaugural game by beating the Jersey Pilots 7-5 in the opener of a June 2, 1984, doubleheader at Memorial Park.

Quakertown went 29-8-1 in 2022 and earned the top seed in the ACBL playoffs. After a first-round bye, the Blazers fell to the eventual champion/brand-new Bergen Metros 2-1 in the Wolff Division championship series. The final game was a 4-1 road loss on August 3.

Something missing: Moore: No Quakertown Blazers baseball this summer leaves a void

Central Bucks South graduate Owen Petrich, a third baseman now playing at Delaware, was named ACBL MVP and Slugger of the Year in 2022 after winning the triple crown with a .362 batting average, 15 home runs and 51 RBIs. Left-hander Joe Valenti from North Penn and Misericordia received Pitcher of the Year honors for winning seven games with four shutouts and only allowing one earned run in 47⅔ innings for an ACBL-record 0.19 ERA.

"I’m already missing it, so I sure hope we are able to return — especially for our fans' and players' sake," Ray said. "(This is) such a special town and team."

Tom Moore: tmoore@couriertimes.com; @TomMoorePhilly

This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Quakertown Blazers won't be playing baseball at Memorial Park this summer