After Judge’s Ruling on Ownership, Waterbury Will Move to Williamsport

The Waterbury Indians, plagued by poor attendance in recent summers, are moving to Williamsport, Pa., Eastern League President Charlie Eshbach announced.

The move was finalized at a meeting of the Class AA league’s directors, who must approve any franchise shift. It was made at the request of Northeastern Baseball, Inc., which owns the team.

The decision was made after a ruling two weeks ago by a federal judge in Portland, Maine, that the company was not the rightful owner of the Class AAA International League franchise it had intended to bring to Williamsport.

“Our pursuit of Triple A baseball is by no means over. We’re still anxious to get the opinion from the judge as to why he ruled the way he did,” Northeastern President John McGee said.

The judge ruled that Jordan Kobritz, who had previously operated the franchise out of Old Orchard Beach, Maine, is still its owner.

Originally, Northeastern had planned to bring Class AAA baseball to Williamsport, with a working agreement with the Philadelphia Phillies, and, at the same time, operate its Eastern League franchise at Waterbury’s Municipal Stadium.