The Chillicothe Mudcats summer collegiate baseball team is currently entering its second season with some changes.
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The Chillicothe Mudcats summer collegiate baseball team is currently entering its second season with some changes. The Mudcats, who finished 21-20 under Coach Shad Fish in their inaugural season, are adding a second coach for the 2003 season. Joining Fish will be Ryan Hall. The two will split coaching duties this season, mentoring approximately 30 players from across the United States.
Chillicothe will again be associated with the MINK (Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas) League. The Mudcats will open the season with a home game against the Springfield (Mo) Slashers on May 30 before getting right into the MINK League season with a road game at Clarinda on May 31. The opening weekend concludes with a home game at Shaffer Memorial Park in Chillicothe against the Wichita (KS) Highlanders.
Grand River Entertainment, a not-for-profit corporation, will again sponsor the Mudcats. Ed Crawford, managing partner for GRE and general manager of baseball operations, said of the inaugural season that drew 10,000 fans, “It was a fantastic first season. We had an outstanding team, played in a renovated stadium and drew a large number of fans. We hope this is just a springboard to the 2003 season,” he added.
Negotiations are currently underway to place ticket outlets in outlying communities such as Brookfield, Marceline, Carrollton, Trenton and Hamilton, Crawford said. Shaffer Park seats approximately 750 and 50 additional “Gold Zone” seats are expected to be installed prior to the start of this season. The “Gold Zone” area is comprised of former Kauffman Stadium (Kansas City Royals) seats.
Also planned at Shaffer Park are a new entryway into the stadium and the possible creation of a children’s play area that will allow younger fans to take a break from the game and interact with each other while parents are enjoying the baseball being played on the field.
New coach, larger base
The primary pre-season news is the addition of Hall and the expansion of the recruiting base for the Mudcats, which last season was made up of primarily junior college and some Division I college players. Approximately half of the junior college players signed Division I commitments over the summer, including one to the University of Kansas and another to Southeast Missouri State University. Two other former Mudcats have signed Division I pacts to head to Kansas this fall.
Hall, an assistant coach at Northwest Shoals Community College in Muscle Shoals, AL, is responsible for the offensive aspects of the game, recruiting and weight training. Since his arrival, the NWSCC team improved from a record of 10-45 to 31-27 in the first year. He is also a scout with the Seattle Mariners, recruiting primarily in Alabama and Tennessee for the professional club. Hall also coached previously at the University of Alabama at Huntsville, which was ranked first in the nation in Division II and advanced to the NCAA regional.
Fish, the associate head coach at Porterville Community College in Porterville, CA, has previous coaching experience with West Hills Community College in Coalinga, CA, and at Graceland College in Lamoni, IA. He also served one season as pitching coach for the Clarinda A’s, a Chillicothe MINK League opponent, before joining Chillicothe last season.
Already the two coaches have recruited approximately 23 players in the DI, DII and junior college levels. Players will be coming from such DI schools as University of Alabama-Birmingham, University of Georgia, Jacksonville State (FL), Indiana State, Kansas, Southeast Missouri State, Arkansas State, Cal-Poly (CA) and Centinary College (LA). Several players from last season’s Mudcat team have made plans to return. Players are still being recruited as the coaches use the spring collegiate season to assess different talent and needs for the Mudcats team.