(Chillicothe) -- In conjunction with the Prospect League, the Chillicothe Paints, presented by Adena Health System, announced their 2022 schedule Friday morning. The Paints open their season on the road in Springfield, Ohio, against the Champion City Kings Wednesday, June 1.
Chillicothe returns to VA Memorial Stadium for its home opener a day later, Thursday, June 2, against Champion City at 7:05 p.m. Along with $1 draft beer for Thirsty Thursday, there will also be a postgame fireworks display to celebrate the opening of the new season.
Once again, the schedule features 60 regular-season games with the Paints playing 30 at home and 30 on the road. This season, Chillicothe plays the Champion City Kings, Danville Dans, Illinois Valley Pistol Shrimp, Johnstown Mill Rats, Lafayette Aviators, REX and West Virginia Miners.
"The Paints are so excited for our 29th season and building on our record-breaking attendance from a year ago,” said President Bryan Wickline. “We have been so fortunate over the years to have tremendous support from our fans and the business community. Everyone really stepped up last year and showed the support we needed coming off a year of no Paints’ baseball.
"The 2022 Prospect League season has a great schedule lined up for the Paints and now it’s time to get back to work. VA Memorial Stadium will start hosting college games in just over a month!”
The Prospect League schedule is designed to give players a taste of life in the minor leagues with charter bus travel, night games in front of enthusiastic crowds, and numerous overnight series in opponent cities.
For the purposes of playoffs, Prospect League teams are divided into two conferences, each with two divisions:
Eastern Conference
- Ohio River Valley Division
- Champion City Kings (Springfield, Ohio)
- Chillicothe Paints (Chillicothe, Ohio)
- Johnstown Mill Rats (Johnstown, Pa.)
- West Virginia Miners (Beckley, W.Va.)
Wabash River Division
- Danville Dans (Danville, Ill.)
- Illinois Valley Pistol Shrimp (Peru, Ill.)
- Lafayette Aviators (Lafayette, Ind.)
- REX Baseball (Terre Haute, Ind.)
Western Conference
- Great River Division
- Burlington Bees (Burlington, Iowa)
- Clinton LumberKings (Clinton, Iowa)
- Normal CornBelters (Normal, Ill.)
- Quincy Gems (Quincy, Ill.)
Prairie Land Division
- Alton River Dragons (Alton, Ill.)
- Cape Catfish (Cape Girardeau, Mo.)
- O'Fallon Hoots (O'Fallon, Mo.)
- Capital City Baseball (Springfield, Ill.)
The Paints play more than 75 percent of their games within the division, meeting the Kings, Miners and Mill Rats a combined 46 times.
The 2022 season once again features split-season play, with division winners at the end of the first half of the season advancing to a one-game divisional championship August 7. Divisional champions advance to play a one-game conference championship August 9. Both conference champions advance to play one another in the best-of-three Prospect League Championship Series. Game one is August 11 and, after a travel day, game two and, if necessary, game three are August 13 and 14.
To advertise at VA Memorial Stadium or to schedule company outings, birthdays, team picnics or to receive group discounts, call the Paints Office at (740) 773-8326. Season tickets are also available online at www.ChillicothePaints.com, the Paints Office & Gift Shop at 11 East 2nd Street in Chillicothe, or by calling (740) 773-8326.