Posts Tagged ‘La Crosse’
Wednesday, February 8th, 2012
The La Crosse Loggers announced that radio play-by-play man John Pappadapolous (Pop-a-dop-o-lus) will indeed return for his tenth season at the microphone, broadcasting all 70 games in 2012 over the Logger Radio Network airways. Pappadapolous, the longest tenured play-by-play man in the Northwoods League, has called every game but two since the Loggers inception in 2003 which is a total number of games that now exceeds 600.
Joining Pappadapolous in the booth will be Holmen, Wisc. native Nick Rytilahti (Rit-a-Lahti). Rytilahti is currently finishing a degree in sports management and sports broadcasting at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse and has previously teamed up with Pappadapolous to broadcast local high school football games.
Tags: La Crosse, Loggers
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Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010
LA CROSSE, WI – The La Crosse Loggers 2010 roster grew by two more on Tuesday as the team announced the signings of Matt Moynihan (San Diego) and Kurt Heyer (Arizona). Both players are getting their first taste of college baseball as practices opened February 1.
Moynihan will be roaming centerfield for the University of San Diego this spring as he chose to play for coach Rich Hill and the Torreros instead of exploring his options with the Atlanta Braves of which he was drafted by in the 37th round in 2009. The 6’2” outfielder was selected as the No. 52 ranked high school prospect by Baseball America.
The speedy lead-off hitter, formerly of Cathedral Catholic High School, hit for a .430 average his senior season and stole 80 bases in his final three seasons. Moynihan earned back-to-back First Team All-State Honors along with being ranked second all-time in CIF San Diego Section history with 61 hits in a season, trailing only current Oakland A’s third baseman Eric Chavez. Moynihan has been selected to multiple showcase events including Perfect Games National Showcase in Minneapolis as well as being selected to play in the Area Code Games for the Milwaukee Brewers.
San Diego coach Rich Hill really likes what Moynihan brings to the table. “Matt is the fastest player that we have recruited in my tenure at USD. We have been looking to get more athletic and Matt provides that for us. With his speed and athleticism, both centerfield and the top of the order are in good hands for years to come,” said Coach Hill.
Kurt Heyer will also be joining the Loggers this summer to add to the strong and ever-growing pitching staff the Loggers have assembled. Heyer will be playing for the Arizona Wildcats after completing his stellar career at Edison High School in Huntington Beach, California where he finished his senior season with an 11-3 record and a dazzling 0.84 ERA. Heyer only allowed 12 earned runs in his 17 appearances earning himself offers from several highly ranked programs before ultimately deciding upon Arizona.Standing at 6’3”, the right-handers fast ball has been clocked between 89-92 mph. Heyer marks the eighth pitcher the Loggers have signed for the upcoming season which begins on June 2, 2010 against the visiting Eau Claire Express as the first pitch is set for 7:05 pm.
Tags: Arizona, Heyer, La Crosse, Loggers, Moynihan, San Diego
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Wednesday, January 20th, 2010
(LA CROSSE, WI) – The La Crosse Loggers added another pair of teammates Wednesday as the team announced the signings of right handed pitcher Dan Langfield and outfielder Derrick Thomas, both freshman at the University of Memphis.
Langfield is expected to take on a significant role this upcoming season at Memphis after completing an oustanding career at Somerset High School in Massachusetts. Langfield picked up an astounishing 192 strikeouts in just 101 innings in his junior and senior seasons. The right handed power pitcher also helped lead his high school team to the Division 2 State Title in 2006.
Perfect Game and Rawlings selected Langfield as a top prospect and also selected Langfield as a member of the Perfect Game Northeast All-Star Team. Langfield also received a 9 out of 10 grading by Perfect Game indicating him as a top-10-round Major League draft pick or a high division 1 prospect after his fastball was clocked at 94 mph during a session at Memphis University.
The apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree in Langfield’s case as his father, Paul, was also a talented pitcher back in his playing days. Paul Langfield was a pitcher at Providence College before playing in the minor leagues with both the Toronto Blue Jays and the Detroit Tigers.
Joining Langfield this summer in La Crosse will be Memphis teammate Derrick Thomas. Thomas, 6-3, 210, was a 44th round draft pick of the Boston Red Sox in 2009 but decided instead to join the Memphis Tigers. Ranked as a top-40 outfield prospect in 2009 by Perfect Game, Thomas was a four-year letter winner at Roswell High School where he posted a .347 average with 43 stolen bases and 11 home runs.
Prior to committing to Memphis, Thomas played summer ball with Danny Pralgo’s 6-4-3 DP Cougars Baseball Academy. Thomas racked up a .431 batting average, a .521 on-base percentage, and accounted for 122 RBI’s. In 2008 he earned All-Tournament recognition as the Cougars finished runner-up in the CABA 16U Ultimate World Series Tournament.
The 2010 Northwoods League schedule was released earlier this month which has the Loggers starting out the season with a home and home series against the Eau Claire Express with the first game being held at Copeland Park in La Crosse on Wednesday, June 2, 2010. First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m.
Tags: La Crosse, Langfield, Loggers, Memphis, Thomas
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Tuesday, January 12th, 2010
LA CROSSE, WI – Brad Jesernig and Alex Najera will soon be spending a lot of time together as the La Crosse Loggers announced today the signing of the two pitchers out of Pepperdine University for the upcoming 2010 season.
Brad Jesernig (So. – Pepperdine) returns to Pepperdine University after posting a 6.94 ERA in seven relief apperances last season after being redshirted in his true freshman season. The 6-5 right handed hurler totaled 11 strikeouts and limited opposing batters to a .244 average while finishing 5 of the 7 games he appeared in.
Jesernig took some advice from this pitching coach at Pepperdine this past summer as he changed his delievery to a sidearm motion and actually added some heat to his fastball which was clocked at 92 mph. While pitching for the Saratoga Phillies of the New York Collegiate Baseball League this past summer, Jesernig, and his new sidearm motion, earned a 3.14 ERA in 15 appearances as a closer and held opposing batters to a .206 average. He was named to the all-league first team.
Along with Jesernig comes freshman left hander Alex Najera (Pepperdine) who will look to carry over his successful high school career to Pepperdine University this spring. Najera was a four-year letter winner at Canyon High School in Anaheim, California where he was named to the All-Century League team and received the school’s Comanche Award following his senior year where he posted an earned run average under 1.00 and hit .325.
Before joining the Loggers, the two hurlers will be trying to help the Waves of Pepperdine improve on their third place West Coast Conference finish of last year when the team finished 12-9 in conference play and 31-23 overall marking the teams 32nd straight 30-plus win season.
The 2010 Northwoods League schedule was released earlier this month which has the Loggers starting out the season with a home and home series against the Eau Claire Express with the first game being held at Copeland Park in La Crosse on Wednesday, June 2, 2010. First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m.
Tags: Jesernig, La Crosse, Loggers, Najera, Pepperdine
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Tuesday, December 15th, 2009
LA CROSSE, WI – The La Crosse Loggers continue to build their roster for the 2010 season and today team officials announced that it will expand by two with the signings of freshman Jacob Lamb (Washington) and sophomore Ryan Behmanesh (Dallas Baptist).
Lamb, 6-2, 200, is yet another incoming Logger who was drafted right out of high school this past June, taken in the 38th Round by the Pittsburgh Pirates, but opted to attend the University of Washington where he is in the midst of his freshman year. A native of Seattle, Wash., Lamb played shortstop at Bishop Blanchete High School but has the ability and arm strength to play third base as well. Baseball America has ranked Lamb, a left-handed hitter, as the 73rd best freshman prospect in the nation heading into the 2010 season.
Behmanesh will be following in the footsteps of the likes of Victor Black, Evan Bigley and Austin Knight, former Logger players who have also thrived at Dallas Baptist University. A two-way player, Behmanesh has the ability to contribute out of the bullpen and at the plate as a corner infielder. The Mansfield, Tex. native was selected as a member of the All-Ping! Baseball Freshman Third Team as a utility player. He finished the year with a .472 batting average in 53 at bats, while he recorded a homerun in his first collegiate at bat. Behmanesh also pitched 26.1 innings, while striking out 32 batters. He finished the year with an overall record of 1-0, with 4 saves, and a 4.44 ERA.
Tags: Behmanesh, Dallas Baptist, La Crosse, Lamb, Loggers, Washington
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Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009
LA CROSSE, WI – The La Crosse Loggers have won 80 games over the past two seasons, bolstered by strong pitching staffs that have ranked in the top five in the Northwoods League during each of those two seasons. Today, the eighth year franchise announced the signings of a pair of highly touted freshman arms in Tobin Mateychick (Wichita State) and Ruben Orozco (UC-Irvine) to their ever-growing 2010 roster.
Mateychick chose to attend Wichita State this fall instead of join the Detroit Tigers organization. The Tigers drafted Mateychick in the 28th round of the 2009 MLB Draft out of Enid, Okla., but the 6-5 right-hander chose to attend school.
Baseball America assessed Mateychick at draft time and had this to say about the freshman hurler, “Righthander Tobin Mateychick is extremely projectable and could blossom into an early-round 2012 draft pick after three years at Wichita State. He’s a 6-foot-5, 185-pounder with a quick arm that delivers fastballs topping out at 94 mph. “He may throw 100 mph one day,” one area scout said. Mateychick also can run his slider up to 84 mph, though it features more cutting action than bite. His changeup is similarly raw. He’s very athletic for his size and doubles as a center fielder with good speed.”
Mateychick becomes the first Wichita State player to join the Loggers since Phil Napolitan in 2004.
Joining Mateychick on the Logger pitching staff will be southpaw Ruben Orozco from UC-Irvine. The 6-0, 190 pound left-hander begins his stint with the nationally ranked Anteaters fresh off a very successful career at Mater Dei High School in Santa Anna, Calif. Mater Dei High School finished the 2009 season ranked 19th in the country, according to Collegiate Baseball, and Orozco was one of their top pitchers, posting a 6-1 record with a 2.57 ERA as a senior.
UC-Irvine is coming off of a 2009 season that saw them win a school-best 45 games (45-15) and capture a Big West Title. The Anteaters were ranked first in the country for six consecutive weeks at one point and hosted an NCAA regional as well in 2009.
With the signing of Mateychick and Orozco, the Loggers have now signed five players to-date for the 2010 season including Tony Mueller (Winona State), Boomer Collins (Nebraska) and Blair Moore (San Diego State).
Tags: La Crosse, Loggers, Mateychick, Orozco, UC Ivine, Wichita State
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Wednesday, November 25th, 2009
LA CROSSE, WI – With an entire coaching staff back and a hometown two-way athlete already returning for 2010, the La Crosse Loggers baseball announced the return of two more key cogs from the 2009 club. Outfielder Boomer Collins (Nebraska) and infielder Blair Moore (San Diego State) will both dawn Logger uniforms again next season, team officials announced today.
Collins, a sophomore from Waxahachie, Texas will join sophomore Tony Mueller in the Logger outfield to form a very athletic duo. The 6-0, 185 pound right-handed hitter appeared in 60 games for the Lumbermen in 2009, hitting .180 with three homer and 18 RBI’s. Perhaps his biggest hit came in Game #2 of the NWL Championship Series when he drove in the go-ahead run in the bottom of the eighth inning in the Loggers 5-4 victory. Collins was also honored as a Rawlings Finest in the Field award recipient this past summer as he did not commit a single error in 60 games played.
Freshman Blair Moore will also be returning for his second season in La Crosse, following a summer in which he became the first high school senior ever to play for the Loggers. Moore joined the Lumbermen in late July and appeared in 17 games hitting .204 over 49 at-bats with 5 RBI’s during the regular season. The 6-1, 180 pound left-handed hitter really grew up in the 2009 post-season as he led the Loggers in hits (7) over the five post-season games with one home run, two RBI’s and he hit at a .333 clip during that span.
Moore was also highly recruited out of Riverside Poly High School (Riverside, Calif.) as he earned honorable mention all-American honors from Collegiate Baseball this past spring.
Tags: Collins, La Crosse, Loggers, Moore, Nebraska, San Diego State
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