State College baseball team...

[Brian in Boston]

... has narrowed its choices in the "Name the Team" contest.

The New York-Penn League expansion franchise, which will play at a new ballpark on the Penn State campus, has winnowed the list of potential team names down to five candidates. They are:

* Anglers - Paying homage to the "37 different trout streams", and the fishermen who frequent them, in Centre County.

* Coalys - A reference to "Old Coaly", a mule who supposedly helped haul materials that were used in the construction of several buildings on the Penn State campus. Apparently, "Old Coaly" served as the informal university mascot prior to the 1904 adoption of the Nittany Lion as the school's official mascot. His skeleton is currently on display in the HUB-Robeson Center on the Penn State campus.

* Furnace - A nod to the history of iron production in Centre County. Additionally, present day State College sits on land that was once part of a community named Centre Furnace.

* Haymakers - Referring to farmers who "make hay" for the purpose of feeding their livestock. The name is a salute to Centre County's agricultural history and the fact that Penn State University was established by the Pennsylvania Agricultural Society as a school to train farmers in advanced agricultural techniques.

* Spikes - The name refers to the unbranched antlers of young male deer. The name is a nod to the popularity of deer-hunting in Centre County, while also serving as a metaphor for the fact that Single-A ballplayers are young and unproven.

I'm not particularly blown away by any of them. As it was, I voted for Haymakers and my nephew voted for Coalys.

[Dilbert]

I would go for Anglers. Im feeling the need for fish all of a sudden.

[gosioux76]

I like Spikes becuase it also has a baseball connotation -- as in baseball spikes.

[Seadragon76]

I'll go with Coalys. It has a historical meaning.

Oh, and no Spikes. I live too close to a team who misused the name Spikes and they paid for it. Golden Spikes, my ass....