There's been some question as to whether we'd seen the last of the Plymouth Pilgrims as a member of the New England Collegiate Baseball League. We now have a definitive answer to that lingering question.

PLYMOUTH - There's been some question as to whether Plymouth had seen the last of the Plymouth Pilgrims as a member of the New England Collegiate Baseball League. We now have a definitive answer to that lingering question.

The Pilgrims are indeed alive and well and under new ownership as they start to put a roster together for the 2017 summer season.

Last week, Pembroke resident Peter Plant was approved to take over the team by the NECBL, and he will serve as team president. Plant's son, Kevin, former standout baseball player at Pembroke High as well as Eckerd College in Florida, will assume the duties of general manager.

Kevin actually played with the Pilgrims in the summer of 2015 and now will focus his efforts on trying to convince the best college baseball players in the country to do so as well.

"I loved my time with the Pilgrims," Kevin said. "Coach (Greg) Zackrison was amazing to play for, and I loved the experience of playing at Forges Field. The crowd is right there on top of you down both of the foul lines, and it gives you a great feel for the game. There is a great atmosphere around the field."

"It's strange that I'm now the general manager of the team I played for just a couple years ago. It was the best baseball experience of my life, and I'm excited to offer the same experience to some other college baseball players looking for a chance to build up their game and get noticed by the professional scouts."

The fate of the Pilgrims had been up in the air since the end of last season as the prior owners believed that financial difficulties made continued operation of the team unfeasible. League officials were determined to keep a franchise in Plymouth and began searching for the right group to take over the operations of the team.

"We heard about what was happening and thought that it would be a shame to see the team go away," Peter Plant explained. "We talked for a long while with the league about what it would take to keep the team alive. Discussions broke down a couple of times, but in the last two weeks we gave it one last shot and we were able to make a deal happen.

"Kevin and I both have baseball in our blood. We've been involved in it in one way or another for most of our lives, and we are really excited about this opportunity to take over the Pilgrims and give a little back to the game."

Once things were resolved last weekend, the Plants and Zackrison went about working the telephone to tell their contacts that the Pilgrims were alive and well and looking for baseball players.

"We're probably about 60 days behind the other teams in putting our roster together," Peter Plant said. "We didn't want to start signing players to contracts when we weren't 100 percent sure there was going to be a team."

Zackrison will stay on as team manager, and Peter Plant said the team has every hope to continue playing its home games at Forges Field.

"Every field has its challenges, but Forges Field really is a great place to watch a baseball game. Between the scenery around the field and being in America's Hometown, we can find a way to make it work," Peter said.

Kevin Plant added, "The feedback we've received since we were approved as owners has been nothing but positive. People want this to work, and we're going to do all that we can do to see that it does."

Email the reporter at dwolcott@wickedlocal.com and follow him on Twitter, @DavidWolcott1.