Slippery Rock Sliders moving to Ohio

The Slippery Rock Sliders are leaving town, leaving Butler County with just one Prospect League team, the Butler Blue Sox.

“The Sliders were sold to a group that is relocating them to Springfield, Ohio for the 2014 season,” Prospect League commissioner Dave Chase said Thursday.

The Sliders, a team featuring NCAA players, averaged just 268 fans at Slippery Rock University's Critchfield Park since starting five years ago. The overall record was 117-165.

“The team has been in the league for five years,” Chase said. “ (Majority owner) Mike Bencic and his wife, Laura, have worked very hard to keep it there, and I believe they were willing to keep it there if the financial losses became manageable. There were some positive signs but it wasn't sustainable.”

Chase said he has heard rumors of “some individuals who might be interested to see the league return to Slippery Rock, and we'd be willing to entertain (the idea).”