FREDERICK, Md. — Professional baseball is returning to Frederick in 2023.
On Wednesday, the independent Atlantic League announced they would be expanding to 10 teams for the upcoming season.
The yet to be named team will be based out of Harry Grove Stadium, which is also the longtime home of the Frederick Keys.
Plans are for the team to play 48 of their 126 regular season games at home beginning April 28. They will compete against four other teams in the Atlantic League's South Division.
The league also has a North Division, which includes a team in Southern Maryland and two others in nearby York and Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
This newest club will be owned and operated by Attain Sports and Entertainment, who also owns the Keys and Bowie Baysox, the current Double-A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles.
Up until 2020, the Keys had served as the Orioles' Class A-Advanced club for three decades.
In 2021 Major League Baseball used them to launch the DraftLeague, a summer league that showcases amateur players hoping to get drafted.
For now, the Keys and the new Atlantic League team will share a stadium. The Keys will play their first of 40 home games on June 3.
To help sort out the split schedule, the Atlantic League brought in professors and students with Johns Hopkins University's Department of Applied Mathematics and Statistics.
The Atlantic League has been around for 25 years, and has sent over 1,200 players to Major League organizations.
