ACC Takes Baseball Tourneys Out Of SC

((HT: WIS-TV))

The Atlantic Coast Conference announced Monday afternoon that Myrtle Beach will no longer be the site of league baseball championships, beginning in 2011.

The ACC Baseball Championship, ACC Commissioner John Swofford says, has now been rewarded to the Durham Bulls Athletic Park in 2011 and NewBridge Bank Park in Greensboro, NC in 2012.

The conference's decision comes amid concerns voiced by local and state organizations regarding the Confederate flag being flown on State House grounds in Columbia.

Since 2000, the ACC says the conference has supported the NAACP's statements regarding the flag issue and followed NCAA policy of not holding pre-determined championships in South Carolina.

In 2005, officials say conference presidents agreed they would be willing to consider awarding championships to South Carolina on a case-by-case basis.

"Our baseball committee and institutional administrators awarded the championships to Myrtle Beach with the understanding that the event had the blessings of all parties within the state of South Carolina," noted Swofford. "It has become clear this was not the case."

In May, it was announced Myrtle Beach would be home to the conference tournaments from 2011 to 2013. Local leaders had hoped the event would rake in thousands in tourism dollars in an effort to help replace revenue lost by the spring and fall bike rallies.

Here's the full statement from the ACC...
Sports Director Matt Lincoln was the lead from WBTW-TV

Here's ACC reaction with the Myrtle Beach Pelicans' Chuck Greenberg, thanks to our friends at WMBF-TV in Florence/Myrtle Beach...