In the spring of 1986, Gary Henschen, the first Great Lakes League Commissioner, and Lou Laslo, contacted the NCAA to find out how to get approval to start a summer league in the area. The NCAA and Major League Baseball were interested in putting a league in the mid-west similar to the east coast's Cape Cod League, which is more than fifty years old. There are now eleven NCAA sponsered collegiate leagues. Wooden bats are used and are supplied by Major League Baseball. This helps professional scouts better judge the talent. The players compete in the Great Lakes League because they perfer to remain in college rather than be drafted. They realize that a college degree is a good hedge in case they don't become major leaguers. Very few drafted players ever make the big leagues. By June of 1987, Gary Henschen and Lou Laslo had recruited sixteams; Bowling Green, Cincinnati, Columbus, Lima, Toldeo, and Muncie, Indiana. The Lima team, then known as the "Blues", played at the OSU-Lima Campus under the OSU-Lima baseball coach Fred Hattery. The second year, David Bowers, Tom Francis, Wes Runk, Barry Ruben, James Shoemaker, and Roger Wright bought the team and a citizen's group renamed the team the "Lima Locos". In 1991 the Locos moved to Shawnee High School Field where they were able to play under the lights. Large crowds have enjoyed watching Lima Summer Collegiate Baseball. The Locos have led the league in attendance six out of the last seven years. In 1991 the Sandusky Bay Stars and the Celina Grand Lake Mariners were added and then league was split into the North and South Divisions. In 1992 the Washtenaw Senators were members of the league for one year. In 1993 the Lima Locos were in the North Division with the Toledo Glass Sox, the Motor City Pride, and the Sandusky Stars. The Southern Division was composed of the Grand Lake Mariners, the Columbus All-Stars, the Cincinnati Spirit, and the Delaware Cows. In 1994, there were ten teams. The North Division added the Euclid Admirals, while the Southern Division added the Dayton Aviators and the Springfield Electros. The original member team, the Cincinnati Spirit dropped out. 1998 was the 12th season for the Great Lakes Collegiate League. The Lima Locos, Sandusky Bay Stars, Mentor Admirals, Grand Lake Mariners, Columbus All-Americans, and Central Ohio comprise the six team, forty game, league. The Sylvania Sox and the Springfield Aviators dropped out at the end of the 1995 season. 1999 is the thirteenth season for the Great Lakes Collegiate League. The League has expanded from six to ten teams. The new teams are Northern Ohio Baseball (Strongville), Stark County Terriers (Canton) , Youngstown Express, Michigan Monarchs (Monroe) , and the Michigan Panthers (Livonia). The Mentor Admirals have dropped out.
There will be two new teams and two teams left the league for the 16th season. Athens, Ohio and another Pittsburgh area team are in, while the Michigan Panthers and the Lake Erie Monarchs are out. An eight team, double elimination torney for the top 11 teams will be held once again in Strongsville, the home of Northern Ohio. The Lima Locos and the Columbus All-Americans are the only teams in the league from the first year.
The Lima Locos 1990 coach, Roger Ingles, will be the commissioner. Roger Ingles also coached the Columbus All-Americans and is head coach of Ohio Wesleyan University.
This is the Great Lakes Collegiate League's sixteenth year. The League now is the largest in the country and has teams in four states:Ohio , Michigan , Indiana & Pennsylvania.