This month marks the return of the Sanford Spinners for their fifth season of baseball in the Old North State League.
The season doesn’t get under way in earnest until June, but the Spinners – a team of collegiate level players who want to continue playing during their offseason – will travel to Virginia to face off against the Danville Dairy Daddies on May 30 and to Pinehurst for the Sandhills Bogeys on May 31. After that, June and July will feature 36 more games, both against Old North State League competition as well as against non-league opponents.
The first home game is scheduled for 7 p.m. on June 2, against the Wake Forest Fungo.
Home games are played at Tramway Park adjacent to Southern Lee High School. Although no announcement has been made, 2025 could be the Spinners’ final season in the park where Southern Lee’s Cavaliers play their home games, with the opening of the Lee County Athletic Park scheduled for this year.
2025 will build on a successful 2024, the first season in which New Jersey-based businessman Al Anderson owned the team. Prior to Anderson’s purchase, the Spinners were one of many teams owned by the Old North State League. The Spinners finished just a game shy of the league’s 2024 playoffs, but also reported the season being their best yet in terms of attendance.
The year will also see a significant change in the league’s alignments, with the Spinners moving to its Piedmont Division and playing the majority of its games against the Dairy Daddies, the Lexington Flying Pigs, the Wake Forest Fungo, the High Point Hughpuppies, and the Raleigh Red Oaks. Previous division rivals the Sandhills (Pinehurst) Bogies will play 2025 in the league’s coastal division. Overall, the league has four six-team divisions.
The Spinners’ 2025 roster will feature a number of players returning from the 2024 campaign. They include pitcher and infielder Pierce Bouwman (Catawba Valley Community College), catcher Ashton Donathan (UNC Pembroke), infielder Brady Byler (Catawba Valley), outfielder Drew Berenyi (Catawba Valley), and outfielder Abi Kadangot (Pfeiffer University).
The Spinners will have a new look off the field as well, as former General Manager Carl Bryan left the team recently. The Spinners’ new GM is Crystal Benson. Also, Southern Lee sports medicine and anatomy instructor Becca Babcock has been announced as the team’s athletic trainer and game day coordinator.
The Spinners have also announced that Jersey Mike’s is the team’s concession sponsor for the season, with the restaurant’s Sanford locations offering food for visitors as well as providing post-game meals for players.
Game tickets cost $8 for adults and $4 for children ($10 and $5 for the home opener) and can be purchased at www.sanfordspinners.com or on game day. Season tickets at a rate of $6 per game for adults and $3 per game for children are also available.
The Spinners’ 2025 schedule is as follows (home games in bold):
Friday, May 30 – @ Danville Dairy Daddies (7 p.m.)
Saturday, May 31 – @ Sandhills Bogeys (7 p.m.)
Monday, June 2 – vs. Wake Forest Fungo (7 p.m.)
Thursday, June 5 – vs. High Point Hushpuppies (7 p.m.)
Friday, June 6 – @ Brewers Scout Team (7 p.m., game to be played at Grace Christian)
Saturday, June 7 – @ Lexington Flying Pigs (7 p.m.)
Sunday, June 8 – vs. Lexington Flying Pigs (7 p.m.)
Thursday, June 12 – vs. Danville Dairy Daddies (7 p.m.)
Friday, June 13 – @ Wake Forest Fungo (6:30 p.m.)
Saturday, June 14 – @ Raleigh Red Oaks (7 p.m.)
Sunday, June 15 – @ High Point Hushpuppies (6 p.m.)
Monday, June 16 – vs. Wake Forest Fungo (7 p.m.)
Tuesday, June 17 – @ Wake Forest Fungo (6:30 p.m.)
Wednesday, June 18 – vs. Lexington Flying Pigs (7 p.m.)
Thursday, June 19 – vs. Danville Dairy Daddies (7 p.m.)
Friday, June 20 – vs. Raleigh Red Oaks (7 p.m.)
Saturday, June 21 – double header @ Danville Dairy Daddies (4 p.m./7 p.m.)
Sunday, June 22 – @ Raleigh Red Oaks (6 p.m.)
Monday, June 23 – @ Lexington Flying Pigs (7 p.m.)
Tuesday, June 24 – vs. High Point Hushpuppies (7 p.m.)
Friday, June 27 – vs. Carolina White Sox (7 p.m.)
Sunday, June 29 – vs. Carolina White Sox (4 p.m.)
Tuesday, July 1 – vs. Wake Forest Fungo (7 p.m.)
Wednesday, July 2 – vs. Fuquay Varina Twins (7 p.m.)
Thursday, July 3 – @ Lexington Flying Pigs (7 p.m.)
Saturday, July 5 – vs. Danville Dairy Daddies (7 p.m.)
Sunday, July 6 – double header @ Fuquay Varina Twins (3 p.m./6 p.m.)
Monday, July 7 – @ Wake Forest Fungo (6:30 p.m.)
Tuesday, July 8 – @ Raleigh Red Oaks (7 p.m.)
Wednesday, July 9 – vs. Raleigh Red Oaks (7 p.m.)
Thursday, July 10 – @ High Point Hushpuppies (7 p.m.)
Saturday, July 12 – vs. High Point Hushpuppies (7 p.m.)
Sunday, July 13 – vs. Lexington Flying Pigs (7 p.m.)
Wednesday, July 16 – vs. Sandhills Bogeys (7 p.m.)
Friday, July 18 – vs. Raleigh Red Oaks (7 p.m.)
Saturday, July 19 – @ High Point Hushpuppies (7 p.m.)