The team’s mascot and primary logo were announced on February 1 at a public event held at a local restaurant in White Oak.

The name TimberHogs pays honor and tribute to the team’s regional moniker, Piney Woods, and to the history of the lumber industry in the region. You can read more about that history here: https://www.texasbeyondhistory.net/aldridge/logging.html

The mascot TimberHogs also references the fact that the region is home to an abundant population of wild boars. You can read more about the history of Texas’s hogs here: https://www.dosplumashuntingranch.com/history-of-hogs-in-texas/

Piney Woods refers to an East Texas region that is primarily a thick forest of pines and is part of a larger forest that extends into Louisiana, Arkansas, and Oklahoma. 

“We are thrilled to have a franchise in White Oak that represents the entire East Texas region,” said Matt Perry, President of the Mid America League, via press statement. “The East Texas region has produced some of the best baseball players in the State of Texas and we are excited to bring baseball back to East Texas after a long absence.”

The Piney Woods franchise will be led by David Upchurch. Upchurch, a former 19th-round draft pick in 1994 for the Kansas City Royals, will be president and part owner of the Piney Woods franchise.  

“I am thrilled and humbled at the opportunity to bring premier development baseball back to the East Texas region,” Upchurch said via press release. 

After his playing career in the Royals system, David parlayed his experience in professional sports to the amateur sports of baseball, football, basketball and cross-country track for the past 24 years.  David is the co-owner and president of Red Dirt Baseball, which teaches and trains young athletes to prepare for the next step in their career whether it be in college or the professional ranks.

The Piney Woods team will play its home games at White Oak Baseball Stadium.  The Stadium went through an impressive renovation in 2014 including upgraded seating options, concessions, playing surface and locker rooms. 

WHITE OAK — The White Oak community is known for its support of local sports, and showed its excitement for its new Mid America League baseball franchise during Saturday afternoon’s ribbon cutting event at the City Park high school ballpark.

“They made it feel like we’re at home already,” Piney Woods team president David Upchurch said of White Oak. “The facilities are phenomenal. You got clubhouses on both sides, enough room for a beer garden down the lines, and places for people to sit and watch.”