BEAVER TOWNSHIP – Summer is right around the corner, and for the Mahoning Valley, that means the return of the Scrappers.

The Scrappers are preparing for their sixth year in the MLB Draft League, but there is one catch: They need a manager.

Mahoning Valley opens the season on June 2, but according to assistant general manager, Matt Thompson, Joe Thurston will not lead the team this season. He made the announcement on Monday during the Curbstone Coaches’ weekly luncheon at Avion Banquet Center in Beaver Township.

The team had previously announced that Thurston would be the manager for the summer.

“From my understanding, he had something that he was going to do up until that point where he was gonna come here. And then he agreed to come here, and then he said ‘Nah, I’m just gonna stay there,'” Thompson said. “So we don’t currently have a coaching staff.”

Additionally, Thompson discussed the various promotions on the schedule this season.

The season opener will be Margarita Night. There will be specialty jerseys that will be auctioned off to benefit Habitat for Humanity, a Margaritaville shirt giveaway and Jimmy Buffett coverband Suns a Beaches will also perform during the pre-game.

The team will also feature a few name-change nights. There will be one new addition to the roster as the Scrappers will become the Ohio Grassmen on June 11, a reference to the alleged Bigfoot-style sightings in the region.

“The Ohio Grassman is Ohio’s version of Bigfoot,” Thompson said. “We will be adopting that for the evening. You can check, we announced it about a month ago.”

For the Ohio Grassmen night, there will be specialty jerseys and hats.

There will also be a new addition to the schedule as well. MLB, who oversees the Draft League, has looked for expansion locations, but nothing has fit for now.

“It has been difficult to find a solid market that’s far enough away from another team and a viable market to put another team,” Thompson said. “So they’re still working on adding some new teams to the league in the next few years.”

So to mix things up a little, the Scrappers will face the Canadian Junior National team at home from June 19-21.

During that series, on June 20, the Scrappers will also feature an Ernie Clement bobblehead giveaway. Clement played for the Scrappers in 2017, and is playing this season with the Toronto Blue Jays.

“That one came back to bite us too, because we started to get a bunch of orders online and we forgot to bump up the shipping to Canada,” Thompson said. “That was kinda eating into that one there, but we got orders for that one from Canada.”

The team will return to being the Peppers in Oil on June 30. There will be a fireworks show to commemorate the United States’ 250th anniversary, and there will be speciality jerseys as well.

And there will be the return of 7 17 Credit Union’s Financial Wellness Night. Last year just over 9,000 fans attended the game.

On July 24, former Cleveland Indian Kenny Lofton will be in attendance for an autograph signing.

The Scrappers will open the season with a three-game home series against the State College Spikes. First pitch for Opening Day is 7:05 p.m. at 7 17 Credit Union Field on June 2.