K-Nines top contest choice for McHenry County team

A stadium is still in the works, the roster is nonexistent and it will be almost two years before an umpire calls "Play ball!" for the first time, but McHenry County's professional baseball team at least now has a name to call itself.

Team officials announced Monday they have selected K-Nines from among nearly 3,000 ideas submitted by fans as part of a contest launched last month.

The name is a play on "Canines" except, instead of the traditional spelling, officials are going with the "K" - the symbol for a strikeout in official baseball scorekeeping - and "Nine" to represent the nine innings in a game and nine players on the field.

The team, which will compete in the independent Frontier League, will play its home games at a planned 6,500-seat multiuse stadium at Route 14 and Lake Shore Drive in Woodstock.

The winning name was suggested by four individuals who will each receive an authentic team uniform and cap, as well as tickets to home games during the team's inaugural season.

The team also has developed a complete set of logos featuring both a canine character and the KNines spelling. Logos feature the team's main colors, forest green and yellow, and can be viewed at www.kninesbaseball.com.

"We think our new team name coupled with the distinctive logos and baseball theme will be popular and well received by our fans," said Pete Heitman, managing partner of the K-Nines ownership group.