New TimberHogs baseball team plays hometown opener tonight

White Oak’s Piney Woods TimberHogs are set for their Home Opener at 7:05 p.m. Thursday, May 30.
They’ll be facing off against the Fort Smith Marshalls at Roughnecks Baseball Stadium.
It’s the inaugural season for the local summer collegiate ballteam, newly-christened in February and part of the Mid-America League established this year.
“The name TimberHogs pays honor and tribute to the team’s regional moniker, Piney Woods, and to the history of the lumber industry in the region,” the team announced at timberhogsbaseball.com. “The mascot TimberHogs also references the fact that the region is home to an abundant population of wild boars.”
Matt Perry is president of the new professional development baseball league.
“We are thrilled to have a franchise in White Oak that represents the entire East Texas region,” he said in a recent press release. “The East Texas region has produced some of the best baseball players in the State of Texas and we are excited to bring baseball back to East Texas after a long absence.”
The franchise is helmed by veteran player David Upchurch, president and part owner of the team.
“I am thrilled and humbled at the opportunity to bring premier development baseball back to the East Texas region.”
The TimberHogs kicked off their season May 23 against the Abilene Flying Bison in the Panhandle.
Learn more and purchase tickets at timberhogsbaseball.com.