LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Minor League Baseball's 2024 Triple-A National Championship is returning to the valley.
Las Vegas Ballpark will host the championship game on Saturday, Sept. 28, which is when the best team in the International League will face the best team in the Pacific Coast League.
"The Triple-A National Championship Game is a terrific way to finish the Minor League season and we're pleased to host it in one of the premier facilities in professional baseball," said Morgan Sword, MLB's Executive Vice President, Baseball Operations. "We expect another great crowd at Las Vegas Ballpark and appreciate the Las Vegas Aviators for hosting this jewel event once again."
Each Triple-A season is split into two halves. The first half will end on June 23 while the second half starts on June 25. The regular season will end on Sept. 22. The first-half winners will host the second-half winners of their respective leagues in a best-of-three League Championship Series. Those series will determine who comes to Las Vegas.
Since the Triple-A National Championship Game was launching in 2006, the Pacific Coast League, the same league the Aviators play in, has won nine of the 16 winner-take-all games against the International League.
Last season, the Norfolk Tides, the Triple-A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles, defeated the Oklahoma City Dodgers, the Triple-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers, 7-6 to win the championship game. The Dodgers scored four runs on two home runs in the bottom of the ninth inning but the Tides were able to hold on for the win.
When looking at records since the game began, the Las Vegas Aviators have never won the national championship. However, their in-state rival, the Reno Aces, the Triple-A affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks, won the title in 2012.
