Ulcombe United is a professional baseball club based in Ulcombe, the capital city of the northern county of Castlewright, Ianoia. They are one of the ten founding member clubs of the I-League that began play in 1900.
In 1892, Protestant Priest Bradley Hawkins organized regular baseball games among the churches in Ulcombe, bringing together members of different congregations in a spirit of friendly competition. Recognizing the growing popularity of the sport and the desire of local Catholic residents to participate, Hawkins took the initiative to officially register the baseball club in the short-lived Ianoia Baseball Circuit in 1896, naming it Ulcombe Churches.
As the club continued to gain traction and attract players from various religious backgrounds, Hawkins sought to create a more inclusive and encompassing identity for the team. In 1899, a few weeks after the club managed it’s best finish of second, he made the decision to rename the club as Ulcombe United, reflecting the desire to unite the entire city through the shared passion for baseball.
Ulcombe United’s strong performance in the Ianoia Baseball Circuit during 1899 caught the attention of the organizers of the I-League who were in the process of establishing a new professional baseball league, the I-League. Recognizing the potential of Ulcombe United as a competitive team, they extended an invitation to the club to participate in the inaugural season of the I-League, which was set to begin in 1900.
Joining the ranks of the inaugural I-League teams, Ulcombe United became an integral part of the new professional baseball landscape in Ianoia, finishing as runners-up once again in 1910 and 1913.
The team plays out of Rosedale Road that actually falls in the boundary of nearby city Chadderton. The club bought the land when it was predominately farmland in 1898 as it was all the team could afford. However, fans walked for over an hour to reach the ballpark due to poor transportation options at the time. Wind blowing in from Centre makes home runs difficult, with doubles and triples the name of the game. The shortened right field fence – placed that way due to a small river – stands 21-feet tall at the request of Priest Hawkins saying home runs should be earned from exceptional play, not from the layout of the land.
The teams nickname is the Angels, and it was officially adopted in 1908.