Howlin' at the Moon Pre-Season

Hi everyone, as you know I am the Kato Sports Girl and this is my first post on the Northwoods League specifically this is Howlin' at Moon which will be about the Mankato MoonDogs. Unlike my SaintsBall blog which is done on a series by series basis this will be a weekly post recapping the past week in the Northwoods League and the Mankato MoonDogs. So Howl with me, welcome, and let's dive right in!!!

First up is a change in the dugout for 2016 as Ryan Kragh (Head Baseball Coach for Bethany Lutheran College in Mankato, MN) has been named the skipper for the club after former manager Ryan Day stepped down after the 2015 season. Kragh has been the head coach at Bethany for the last 12 seasons and has been a coach with the MoonDogs in 2013 and 2015 as pitching coach, at Bethany Kragh has a 225-191 record in which he has qualified the school for the UMAC Conference tournament every season. Also on the coaching staff note Matt Wollenzin will return for his 3rd summer with the club (player in 2013 coach in 2015) along with newcomers Robert Vavaro (Iowa Lakes Community College) and Nick Weinmeister (Northland College in Ashland, WI).

On a players note 4 will return to the 'Dogs from their 2015 roster which include, Reese Eddins a Sophomore RHP out of Nebraska, Sam Myers a Junior RHP out of Cal-State Northridge, Cody O'Brien a Junior RHP out of Austin Peay, and David Metzger a Junior 2B out of Cal-State Bakersfield. The MoonDogs have added a slew of new players to put another competitive team on the field in 2016. Mankato has also added a few local products this year including RHP Josh Matheson of the MSU-Mankato Mavericks, Matheson pitched for the Willmar Stingers last summer. Another local man in University of Minnesota IF/OF Jordan Kozicky a native of Minneapolis playing his first year in the Northwoods League.

Mankato will open up the 2016 Northwoods League campaign on Tuesday May 31st at 6:05 PM with a series on the road against the Thunder Bay Border Cats, the home opener for 2016 will be on Friday June 3rd in the 2nd game of a home and home series against the Rochester Honkers. It's gonna be a fun year at the Frank so get out there and cheer for the MoonDogs!