Intercounty Baseball League

The Intercounty Baseball League (IBL) is a Canadian baseball league, comprising teams of college players and former professionals from North America and beyond. The teams are located in Southern Ontario.

The league was formed in 1919 and has enjoyed much success over its long history. Teams are run similar to a professional minor-league team, providing players an opportunity to play under the same conditions, using wooden bats and minor-league specification baseballs. Teams play 42 scheduled games from early May to late-August. The playoffs are best-of-five series with the championship series typically played around Labour Day. The most recent champions are the Welland Jackfish, who defeated the Barrie Baycats 4-2 in the 2023 Dominico Cup Final.

History
The Intercounty Baseball League (IBL) was founded in 1919 with just four cities represented — Galt, Guelph, Stratford and Kitchener, and is the oldest amateur men's league in Canada. During the early years, the league expanded to include the cities of Waterloo, Brantford, Preston, London, and St. Thomas.

It was previously known as the Intercounty Major Baseball League and the Senior Intercounty Baseball League. Teams compete for the Jack and Lynne Dominico Trophy, which is awarded to the league champions. The trophy is named for the late owners of the Toronto Maple Leafs baseball team, husband and wife Jack and Lynne Dominico.



All-Star Game
On July 8, 2006, in Barrie, the league's New Era IBL All-Star Classic game between the Barrie Baycats and the IBL All-Stars; Barrie won 7–2.

On August 21 and 22, 2010 in Ottawa, the Fat Cats hosted the New Era All-Star Classic between the IBL All-Stars and the All-Stars from Ligue de Baseball Senior Élite du Québec (LBSEQ).

Barrie hosted the league's All-Star Game on July 11, 2015, with the IBL All-Stars defeating Barrie Baycats 13–4.

Following a several-year hiatus the IBL announced they will be hosting a mid summer classic on July 20, 2024 in Welland.

Teams
* a game between Toronto and Kitchener on August 15, was rained out and not made up due to the game not having any effects on the standings

Source:

Champions
The winning team is awarded the Jack and Lynne Dominico Cup.

Other awards presented include:


 * Rawlings IBL Player of the Year Award/John Bell Memorial Trophy
 * IBL Rookie of the Year/Brian Kerr Memorial Trophy

Notable players

 * John Axford (Brantford Red Sox) – Milwaukee Brewers, St. Louis Cardinals, Cleveland Indians, Pittsburgh Pirates, Colorado Rockies, Oakland Athletics, Los Angeles Dodgers, Toronto Blue Jays
 * Don Beaupre (Waterloo Tigers) – Minnesota North Stars
 * Todd Betts (Barrie Baycats) - Yakult Swallows
 * Tom Burgess
 * Matthew Hilderbrandt (Welland Jackfish)† (London Majors) - St. Louis Cardinals
 * Rich Butler (Toronto Maple Leafs) – Toronto Blue Jays, Tampa Bay Devil Rays
 * Rob Butler (Toronto Maple Leafs) – Toronto Blue Jays, Philadelphia Phillies
 * Frank Colman† (London Majors) – Pittsburgh Pirates, New York Yankees
 * Scott Diamond (Guelph Royals) – Minnesota Twins, Toronto Blue Jays
 * Rob Ducey† (Cambridge) Phillies, Toronto Blue Jays, California Angels, Texas Rangers, Nippon-Ham Fighters, Seattle Mariners, Philadelphia Phillies, Montreal Expos
 * Wilmer Fields (Brantford Red Sox) 1939–50 – Homestead Grays
 * Mike Gardiner (Stratford Hillers) Detroit Tigers, Boston Red Sox, Montreal Expos, Seattle Mariners 1990–1995
 * Ferguson Jenkins† (London Majors) Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago Cubs, Texas Rangers, Boston Red Sox (1991 National Baseball Hall of Fame inductee)
 * Mike Kilkenny (London Majors) – Detroit Tigers
 * Joe Krakauskas (Brantford Red Sox) 1937–46 – Washington Senators & Cleveland Indians
 * Larry Landreth (Stratford Hillers) – Montreal Expos
 * Lester Lockett (Kitchener) – Baltimore Elite Giants
 * Roy McKay (London Majors) – Detroit Tigers
 * Denny McLain (London Majors) – Detroit Tigers, Washington Senators, Oakland Athletics, Atlanta Braves
 * Jesse Orosco (Galt Terriers) – New York Mets, Los Angeles Dodgers, Cleveland Indians, Milwaukee Brewers, Baltimore Orioles, St. Louis Cardinals, San Diego Padres, New York Yankees, Minnesota Twins
 * Pete Orr (Toronto Maple Leafs) – Atlanta Braves, Washington Nationals, Philadelphia Phillies
 * Lester B. Pearson† (Guelph Maple Leafs) – Prime Minister of Canada (22 April 1963 – 20 April 1968)
 * Dalton Pompey (Guelph Royals) - Toronto Blue Jays
 * Goody Rosen† (Galt Terriers) – Brooklyn Dodgers, New York Giants
 * Dave Rozema (London Majors) – Detroit Tigers
 * Chris Speier (Stratford) – San Francisco Giants, St. Louis Cardinals, Minnesota Twins, Chicago Cubs & Montreal Expos
 * Paul Spoljaric (Toronto Maple Leafs, Barrie Baycats) – Toronto Blue Jays, Seattle Mariners, Philadelphia Phillies, Kansas City Royals
 * Ron Stead† (Brantford Red Sox) – 1967 Pan American Games
 * Fred Thomas† (Kitchener Panthers) – Wilkes-Barre Barons, Cincinnati Crescents (basketball), Toronto Argonauts (CFL)
 * Rob Thomson† (Stratford Hillers) – Detroit Tigers
 * Scott Thorman (Brantford Red Sox) – Atlanta Braves
 * Jimmy Wilkes (Brantford Red Sox) – Negro leagues: Newark Eagles, Houston Eagles, Indianapolis Clowns

† Player is an inductee of the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame

Notable executives

 * Bob Ferguson, league statistician (1958 to 1966) and owner of the London Pontiacs (1963 to 1964)