October 24, 2007 Contact: Tom Nichols at (219) 882-2255

Gary, Ind.—The two-time Northern League Champion Gary SouthShore RailCats Professional Baseball Club announced its 2008 game schedule today.

The RailCats will again play 96 games against Northern League opponents including 48 home games at U. S. Steel Yard in Gary. The Northern League will be a six-team circuit in 2008 featuring the RailCats along with the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks, Joliet JackHammers, Kansas City T-Bones, Schaumburg Flyers, and Winnipeg Goldeyes.

The RailCats will open the 2008 season with a seven game homestand starting Thursday, May 15^th against Joliet. The regular season home schedule will conclude on August 28^th and will be followed by a brief road trip through the league's closing date of Sunday, August 31^st.

The home schedule includes 24 weekend dates (Friday, Saturday, or Sunday games) and 24 weekday/night contests. The schedule includes eight popular Friday night games followed by a spectacular fireworks show.

The RailCats will be home on Thursday, July 3^rd and will celebrate the start of the Independence Day weekend with their largest fireworks show of the year after the game that night.

The 2008 schedule is more balanced than in previous years when Northern League schedules were heavily weighted according to geography. Overall, the RailCats will play 23 games vs. Schaumburg; 21 vs. Kansas City; 20 vs. Joliet; 20 vs. Fargo-Moorhead; and 12 vs. Winnipeg.

Among the RailCats' 48 home games, Joliet will visit the Steel Yard 15 times, while the RailCats will host Kansas City 10 times; Fargo-Moorhead nine times; Schaumburg eight times, and Winnipeg six times.

The 2008 season will mark the 16^th continuous year of operation for the Northern League as an independent professional league. The six remaining Northern League teams attracted more than 1.3 million fans in 2007, an increase over 2006, as all six clubs averaged over 3,600 fans per game.

Among the eight independent leagues that operated in 2007, the Northern League was the only league with six clubs averaging over 3,600 fans per game. The six team Northern League will head into 2008 as the only professional minor league below the Triple-A level in which all of its clubs averaged over 3,600 fans in 2007.

RailCats 2008 Schedule: May 15-18: vs. JOL; May 19-21: vs. KC; May 23-26: at FM; May 27-29: at KC; May 30-June 1: vs. FM; June 3-5: at SCH; June 6-8: vs. JOL; June 9-10: vs. SCH; June 11-12: at JOL; June 13-15: at SCH; June 17-19: at WPG; June 20-22: vs. SCH; June 23-25: vs. FM; June 27-29: at SCH; July 1-3: vs. WPG; July 4-6: at FM; July 10-13: vs. KC; July 14-17: at FM; July 18-20: at JOL; July 22-24: vs. FM; July 25-27: vs. WPG; July 29-31: at WPG; August 1-3: at KC; August 4-6: vs. JOL; August 8-10: vs. KC; August 12-14: at SCH; August 15-19: at KC; August 20-24: vs. JOL; August 26-28: vs. SCH; August 29-31: at SCH.

Abbreviations: FM: Fargo-Moorhead; JOL: Joliet; KC: Kansas City; SCH: Schaumburg; WPG: Winnipeg.

More Info: The Gary SouthShore RailCats are a Professional Minor League Baseball Team serving Northwest Indiana and Chicago's south suburbs. For the last four years, they have been chosen "Best Local Spectator Sport" by Northwest Indiana Business Quarterly. Their 96 game schedule includes 48 home games at beautiful U. S. Steel Yard, an award-winning 6,000 seat state-of-the-art facility located next to the Indiana Toll Road (I-90) with easy access to I-65.

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