Families that hosted Butler BlueSox players are expecting to feel a void in their lives next summer.

Eighteen people served as hosts for college athletes from out of the area who played for the team this season.

There won’t be any players to host next summer because the team suspended operations after the ownership group and the Butler Parks, Recreation Grounds and Facilities Authority did not reach an agreement for the BlueSox to continue playing at Kelly Automotive Park. The team has played at the park since its inception 10 years ago.

Hosts say close relationships grow between them and the players they take in for the two months of league games.

“It was one of the best experiences we’ve ever been a part of,” said Michael Liebler, who, along with his wife, Gina, have hosted players in their Butler Township home for the past two years. “It’s truly going to be missed. Our summer will have a void in them that’s for sure. We enjoyed going to all the games.

“You share more than just baseball. You share lives and community and things. We even stay in touch with their parents.”

The Lieblers volunteered to become a host family after their daughter served as the BlueSox volunteer on-field activity coordinator and made announcements between innings when she was a junior in high school four years ago.

“I was so pleased with how the team was a good mentor. I saw the value of what the team was bringing to the community,” Liebler said. “Me and my wife wanted to step up and be a host family.”

The athletes, who play 60 games in the two-month season, have a hectic schedule.

On the day of a home game at the Liebler household, their player makes his own breakfast because the Lieblers work. He then goes to the YMCA and works out for an hour or two before returning for lunch.

Their player then goes to the stadium for practice and pregame meetings at 3 p.m. He comes back to the house after the game at 10 or 10:30 p.m.

“They’re hungry by then,” Liebler said.

The bus for away games leaves between 6 a.m. and 8 a.m.

“Their schedules are very busy,” Liebler said.

Terry Steighner, wife of team co-owner Larry Sassone, coordinates the host program and answers any questions the family or the players have.

“It really turned out to be great experience for us. They are grateful and their parents are grateful,” Liebler said. “You build a lasting relationship with these men.”

The Lieblers also are members of the Butler BlueSox Boosters, which has a cookie sale in early December to raise money to feed the players after 10 or 12 of the 30 home games.

Ed Bleicher of Butler is another host and booster.

“I’m going to miss having the kids around,” Bleicher said. “The house is empty again.”

After serving as host for nine years, he said hosts become temporary parents of the players.

“When they come to town they’re strangers. They show up alone. They live with us. They pretty much have the run of the house,” Bleicher said. “Then you go to the ball games and you become parents.”

He said he will miss the players and going with his children and grandchildren to the stadium to watch the BlueSox games.

“We just like going to the ballpark,” he said.

He said his connection with the players remains strong even after they leave the team.

“We keep track of all of them — Christmas card the occasional text,” Bleicher said.

Steighner said she and her husband have been hosting players since the team was created and has coordinated the host program for eight years.

“We have 18 host families and we have four on a waiting list,” Steighner said. “They come back year after year. Many have young kids.”

Steighner said host families apply and are vetted to ensure the player and the family are a good fit.

“We don’t have trouble finding families,” Steighner said.

Players must abide by rules of the household they are staying in. The team requires hosts to provide a private bedroom for the player and have laundry machines. The hosts aren’t required to feed the players, but all of them do.

“I can’t thank our families enough. They make my job so easy and they are so great to work with,” Steighner said. “I feel like it was valuable to them as well.”

She said she and Sassone stay in touch with the first player they hosted 10 years ago. He is now married and has two children, she said.

“The players become part of our family,” she said. “They form a relationship that last a lifetime.”

LaDonna Young of Butler Township is the boosters treasurer and a deeply rooted fan with season tickets. Her father has hosted players for seven years and sometimes hosted two players at once.

“It was a great summer activity going to the games. You got to be friends with everyone around you. It was good baseball,” Young said. “It will be missed. I have to figure out what I’m going to do with my evenings.”

She said her former employer Pittsburgh Plastics Manufacturing used to have employee outings at the ballpark. Her current employer, Standard Bent Glass, gives its season tickets to employees to use as a reward.

“I think it’s a sad day in Butler. We lost in-town entertainment. We have three generations of my family going down to the ballpark,” Young said.

She commends host families

“There is no reward to be a host family,” Young said. “They like baseball and they like Butler, and they want to help. These kids become the host families children.”

Jack Oris of Butler is a booster and has been a season-ticket holder since the team first took the field.

“I’m hoping and keep praying that something can be done between ownership and the stadium authority. I’m just staying positive. Hopefully something good will come of it,” Oris said.

He said he enjoyed helping the team and going to games at the stadium.

“What I’ll miss most is the convenience of going to Butler and watching a baseball game, and having our own baseball team 20 minutes from my house.”