The Roswell Invaders are a professional baseball team based in Roswell, New Mexico USA that were founded in 2010 and began play in 2011.
The Invader's Colors are Navy blue and Nuclear Alien Green, silver and white.
The Roswell Invaders play in the Pecos League of Professional Baseball Clubs, which is not affiliated with Major or Minor League Baseball.
What is an Invader?
The Roswell Invaders were named by Amy Dunn a direct relative to Pecos League Owner Andrew Dunn.
In consistant theme of naming teams original names that historically represent the area they are from.
An Invader is a person or group that invades a country, region, or other place.
Roswell, New Mexico is defined as the UFO Capital of the World
Roswell is most popularly known for having its name attached to what is now called the Roswell UFO incident, though the crash site of the alleged UFO was some 75 miles (121 km) from Roswell and closer to Corona. The investigation and debris recovery was handled by the local Roswell Army Air Field. Roswell is a popular town for tourists from around the country because of its many alien-themed stores, restaurants, museums, and other attractions, including a McDonald's location built in the form of a flying saucer.
The Invaders are consistant with the theme of Roswell as an Extra Terrestrial Character.
The Invaders won the Pecos League Championship in 2011, 2013, 2015, 2022 and won the Mountain Division Championship in 2017 and 2022.
winning the mountain division Chamipionship was possibly tougher than winning the first three league championships as the Pecos League expanded from 6 teams to 12.
The new markets include places such as Tucson, Bakersfield, High Desert, Garden City and Monterey.
These are much bigger markets than the original Pecos League, thus being able to attract much better players.
In 2016 the Invaders lost to the Tucson Saguaros in the Southern Division Finals.
In 2017 the Invaders set the record as the greatest all time offensive team in league history. They lost in the Pecos League Finals to the High Desert Yardbirds from California.
In 2018 Brian Portelli set every offensive Record in the history of the Pecos League. His numbers were comparable to Joe Bauman who had his record season in Roswell.
2023
In 2023 the Roswell Invaders failed to qualify for the playoffs for the first time in team history.
The Invaders were in first place in the Mountain Division through June 24th with a record of 18-3.
From June 25 forward the Invaders would only win 11 more games going 11-20 down the stretch.
The Invaders finished 2-9 against Tucson and 4-7 against Garden City.
2022
-In 2022 the Roswell Invaders finished the season in 4th place in the Mountain Division which sent them to Garden City for the first round of the playoffs.
They defeated the Wind 2 games to 1 to advanced to Mountain Division Finals. The Invaders were set to sweep the Wind except for a walkoff home run that extended the series to game 3.
The Invaders moved past the Wind and drew an unlikely opponent in the 3 seed Trinidad Triggers who had defeated the Alpine Cowboys in the first round.
The two teams were evenly matched and the Triggers had Game 3 in hand in the Top of the Ninth Inning.
The Invaders were down to their last strike and last out but rallied to score 3 runs in the top of the ninth inning with two outs to stun the Triggers.
The Invaders were Mountain Division Champions.
The Invaders advanced for a rematch with Tucson Saguaros this time in Kino Stadium.
Roswell came out in total command in game 1 winning 6-3. To repeat their fortunes in 2021 they lost game 2 by a score of 5-4.
This time the Invaders had total control of game three with shining pitching performance by Anthony Moore.
The Invaders won Game 3 by a score 5-2 to win their fourth Pecos League Championship.
They played the entire playoffs with 18 active players.
2021-In 2021 the Roswell Invaders initially didn't qualify for the Playoffs. However due to Bakerfield Train Robbers having a covid outbreak the Mountain Division got 5 teams in the playoffs the Invaders being the 5th.
The Invaders took full advantage defeating the Alpine Cowboys in the first Round and defeating the Garden City Wind in the 2nd round. The Invaders reached the Pecos League Finals against the Tucson Saguaros were they lost 2 games to 3 at Amphi.
They lost the middle game by one run and nearly won the Pecos League Championship.
2020-In 2020 the Roswell Invaders played in Houston in one location Pecos League. The Invaders lost in the Wild Card Round to the Salina Stockade but had some very good players.
2019-In 2019 the Invaders finished in third place in the Mountain Division.
This got the Invaders a first round series with the Garden City Wind in Kansas. The Invaders swept the Wind and advanced to Texas to play the Alpine Cowboys.
They were swept in Alpine where their season ended.
2018-In 2018 the Invaders finished 1/2 game behind Tucson for first place in the Southern Division.
This got the Invaders a first round rematch with the Trinidad Triggers. This year the Triggers would sweep the Invaders. Brian Portelli set every offensive record for the Invaders.
Brian had an all time Pecos League season and was sent to Canada at season's end.
2017-In 2017 the Invaders finally got over the hump, despite finishing as the 2nd seed again in the new Mountain Division, the Invaders beat Trinidad in the first round and beat Alpine to win the Mountain Division.
For the first time in league history the Pecos League Finals were played between two teams that had never seen each other. The Invaders drew home field advantage for the High Desert Yardbirds. The Yardbirds swept the Invaders 2-0.
The Invaders still had a great season and had great interest and support from their fans.
2016-In 2016 the Invaders had their best statisical season ever. Bryan Kloppe took over as manager for the Invaders. The Invaders finished 2nd in the Southern Divison and swept the Alpine Cowboys in the first round of the playoffs.
The Invaders then lost an incredible three game series to the Tucson Saguaros in three games. The Invaders redefined the Pecos League offensive record book being lead by Cody Coffman, Cody Bishop, Joey Miller and Bobby Webb.
On the mound for the Invaders it was David Johnson and Lance Fairchild. Tucson was a force and set the new Pecos League record for games won. At the conclusion of the season the Invaders were invited to the World Baseball Challange in Prince George, BC Canada.
The Invaders were a replacement team for the Cuban National Team who did not show up. The Invaders lost in the Championship game to Japan.
2015-
Originally the Invaders were slated to be lead by Dave Ramsey, Dave never was able to report and Chris Treibt was named manager.
Treibt did an exceptional job getting the Invaders into the playoffs with a record of 40-28. The Invaders beat Alpine in a five game series three games to two to advance to the Championship Series.
Santa Fe had upset Trinidad and only played a three game series due to rain. The Invaders easily swept the Fuego 17-6 and 17-5. The Invaders were lead by Nolan Meadowns, Danny Grauer, Roche Woodward, Mark Fowler, Aaron Carman, Michael Morris and Louis Martini.
On the mound for the Invaders it was a 1-2 punch of Ryan Davis and Tyler Moore. The Invaders had a great season in 2015.
2014-The Invaders were lead by Rob Warnock and wore bright lime green uniforms the entire season.
Despite having Josh Mooney and Tyler Garkow the Invaders could be the Alpine Cowboys. The Cowboys finished as the #1 seed in the Southern Division in the regular season and defeated the Invaders in the playoffs 2 games to 1.
Rob Warnock served as manager for the 2014 season.
2013-The Invaders started the off season with major questions and major problems. The Invaders needed someone to get them back to their 2011 form and their 2011 support.
Andrew Dunn hired Chris Ebright from Michigan to manage the Invaders. He was coached in Canada's Western Major Baseball League. Chris decided to release every player and start over from scratch with an entire team of rookies.
From Day 1 in Spring Training it was obvious that Chris had built the best team in the history of the Pecos League. The Invaders had a high powered offense lead by Vinny Mejia, Roger Bernal, Chad Kruse, Mike McCarthy amd Ryan Normoyle.
The Invaders pitching staff of Erik Lambe, Jon Sa, Ryan Rogers, Ed Kohout, Davis Henderson and Ryan Richardson was the best the league had ever assembled.
The Invaders went 50-17 in the regular season, swept Alpine in the Southern Division Playoffs and swept Las Vegas in the Pecos League Finals.
The Invaders had regained their status of the top team in the Pecos League on and off of the field. Ebright became a full time coach at a Division II College in Michigan which prevented him from managing again.
2012-The Invaders had their worst season in team history. Chris Paterson left Roswell to manage in White Sands. This proved to be a major loss for both the Pupfish and Invaders.
The Invaders originally hired Dan Schwamn to be their manager. Schwamn was a legendary United League manager and would have served the Invaders great.
Schwamn could not left his teaching job until June so this would not work for the Invaders. The Invaders hired Simon Walters in which turned out to be the worst move in team history.
Walters was confrontational in the community and with his players. Two weeks into the season the entire fan base was gone. Fans had lost interest in supporting a team lead by Walters.
The League considered putting the team on the road. The Invaders qualified for the playoffs and lost in the first round to Las Cruces. Charlie Short signed in the middle of the season with the New York Yankees.
2011-
The Invaders were the premier team in the Pecos League in 2011. The Invaders beat the El Paso Diablos in Spring Training 10-7 in the inaugural Pecos League Game.
The Invaders won the regular season title, and won both rounds of playoffs to be the inaugural Pecos League Champions. Chris Paterson was their manager.
Clifton Thomas was league MVP. Josh Brady and Reed Brown each went 7-2.
The Invaders were also lead by Austrlian Josh Cakebread who hit .377, Kevin Hoef and Adrian Martinez.
The Invaders established themselves as the team to beat in the Pecos League. The Invaders lead the league in attendence.
In August 2016 The Roswell Invaders entered the World Baseball Challenge.
The went 5-2 losing both games to Japan and winning the Silver Medal.
Team Japan 2016 World Baseball Challenge Gold Medalists
Roswell Invaders 2016 World Baseball Challenge Silver Medalists
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In May 4, 2011 the Roswell Invaders took the field for the first time ever as a pro baseball team, Chris Paterson and the Invaders played their first ever game against the El Paso Diablos from the American Association.
The Invaders won this game 10-7, it was a very important game for both the Pecos League and the Invaders as a team.
The El Paso fans were making fun on the Invaders Lime Green Uniforms.
By the end of the night the Diablo fans were cursing that their Diablos were losing to a team from lowly New Mexico.
The Diablos were a solid club, on May 8th they went to Las Cruces and hammered the Vaqueros 21-10 in Apodoca Park.
The Roswell Invaders were the 2nd team owned by Pecos League Owner/Founder Andrew Dunn.
Dunn at the time was the owner of the Las Cruces Vaqueros in the Continental League and was considering having a 2nd team.
The Invaders were born along with Alpine Cowboys, White Sands Pupfish, Las Cruces Vaqueros, Ruidoso Osos and Carlsbad Bats the Pecos League was started in 2011 with six teams.
In 2011, The Invaders were finally launched with the main supporter being Roswell Economic Development Corporation (Bob Donnell and Jessica Chaves).
The support and Bob and Jessica was instrumental to the formation and existance of the Invaders.
The fortunes of the team immediately turned around when the team reported to Spring Training and defeated the El Paso Diablos in their first exhibition game.
People actually saw players, baseballs, bats, helmets and a real baseball team with good players.
In May 2011 when the Invaders reported for the first Spring Training, The condition of Joe Bauman was also terrible.
The City Parks and Recreation Department lead by Kim Elliott had little belief that the Invaders would really happen.
The field conditions showed with mini hills in the outfield and a terrible infield playing condition.
But by midseason the field was in great shape. Andrew Dunn of Pecos League "Looking back at the history of the Invaders, no one and I mean no believed there would be a team show up. The previous league really hurt the market and it took the Invaders a complete season of playing to get the belief. The team has turned out to be great for the Pecos League, fans and 100's of players but it was by far the toughest team to get off the ground in league history. It will forever be a Pecos League Team and the fans and city have proven great support."
