MARION - They're the Miners.

A little more than three months after purchasing a professional Independent league team, the Southern Illinois Baseball Group has settled on a team name - the Southern Illinois Miners.

The name and team logo, which have piqued the curiosity of many area residents since August, were unveiled at a press conference at 6 tonight at center court in the Illinois Centre mall.

Marion is part of the Frontier League with a 96-game schedule, including 48 at home. Games are set to begin in late May and run through the first week of September. The three teams in closest proximity to Marion are the River City Rascals in O'Fallon, Mo., Gateway Grizzlies in Sauget and the Evansville Otters.

The Southern Illinois team is owned by Jayne Simmons of Alton, whose husband, John, owns the Savannah, Ga. Sand Gnats in the South Atlantic League. John Simmons had tried to purchase the South Bend, Ind. team in the Midwest League, but was told he could not move it to Marion, which led to his wife's purchase of an expansion team with the Frontier League.

The Miners will be marketed within a 90-mile radius of the stadium. The area contains more than 1.8 million residents and includes the communities of Cape Girardeau and Paducah. Ground was broken on the Marion stadium with the assistance of Gov. Rod Blagojevich in June of 2005. Weather permitting this winter, the project should be completed sometime next spring before the games get under way.