Despite strong denials last week from team ownership that the Northern Colorado Owlz were not leaving Windsor, the Pioneer Baseball League on Monday announced the Owlz’ resignation from the 12-team independent league.
The Pioneer Baseball League sent an email early Monday afternoon announcing the resignation, and the addition of a new team called the Colorado Springs Sky Sox to complete the Owlz’ season.
Owlz on-field manager Dmitri Young, pitching coach Ray King and the coaching staff will take over the Sky Sox for the team’s first series Tuesday in Grand Junction. The Sky Sox will share blocktickets Park in Colorado Springs with the Rocky Mountain Vibes, also of the PBL.
Pioneer Baseball League president Mike Shapiro said Monday afternoon it’s his understanding the Owlz’ players will be released by the former team, given the Northern Colorado squad is no longer in operation. Shapiro said Monday he thinks Young and the coaching staff are in the process of assembling a squad to play as the Sky Sox.
Shapiro said he can’t speculate if that team will include the former Owlz players.
Shapiro said the PBL was notified last week, either Wednesday or Thursday, of the Owlz’ interest in resigning from the league. Shapiro said the league board of directors accepted the resignation and didn’t inquire about the reasons for the team’s departure.
Future Legends LLC, the ownership group behind the Owlz and minor league soccer teams the Northern Colorado Hailstorm and Northern Colorado Rain — have been mired in legal and financial challenges relating to unpaid bills and other issues at the in-progress complex in Windsor for more than a year.
BizWest, a Northern Colorado business news outlet, reported the Owlz’ previous home field, 4Rivers Equipment Stadium at the Future Legends complex, has been inaccessible since late April when it was shut down by the town of Windsor. The town claimed Jeff Katofsky, the complex’s managing member and co-founder, failed to address health and safety issues, according to a BizWest story.
Shapiro said he “can’t speculate” as to the reasons for the Owlz left the league.
“We received the resignation they provided,” Shapiro said. “I assume they have good reason to leave the league. We’ve been busy putting together another team to complete the season.”
Shapiro said he is not aware of another time when a PBL team didn’t complete a season or had to move to another location. He’s been president since 2021.
Casey Katofsky, the son of Future Legends’ Complex owner Jeff Katofsky, and the executive director and co-owner of the complex, last week denied the Owlz were shutting down and moving to Colorado Springs. Katofsky said any rumor on the subject was “nowhere close to accurate.”
Casey Katofsky was unavailable for comment as of Monday afternoon. The “Meet the team” page on the Future Legends Complex website was not active Monday, indicating the information on leadership could not be found.
In an emailed statement before 2 p.m. Monday, the Owlz said they made a deal with the Pioneer League to play the rest of their home series in Colorado Springs. The Owlz’ email said the deal was made so players could have a proper locker room, training facility and consistent stadium setting.
The Owlz said its facilities “continue to be in maintenance and without a clear exact timetable, we continue to have to find different temporary homes in Northern Colorado and changing our operations every series.”
The statement said the team will “evaluate the future of professional baseball here in the off season as we hope to get back on track and open our youth baseball academy this fall.”
The message added that the Owlz name remains in the hands of the Future Legends ownership team and is expected to continue to be in use as the main brand in Northern Colorado.