St. Cloud River Bats

The St. Cloud River Bats held their first practice Monday in St. Joseph and 10 players were in attendance. River Bats owner/President Joel Sutherland expects 17 players in Duluth tomorrow night in their season opener. New field manager Jon Hansen was at the Bats' first practice Monday.

The St. Cloud River Bats announced Friday that pitching coach Jon Hansen will be their field manager for the 2011 season. He replaces Ben Quinto who told the Bats earlier this week he couldn't manage the team because of personal reasons. Hansen was hired to be the pitching coach and has been an assistant coach at Fort Scott Community College in Kansas. He pitched in the Northwoods League in 2005 with the Brainerd Blue Thunder. Hansen says "this is an amazing opportunity".

The St. Cloud River Bats are looking for a new field manager after Ben Quinto took them he won't be able to manage the team this summer due to personal reasons. Top assistant and former River Bats manager Matt Allison also won't be able to coach the Bats this summer. That leaves pitching coach Jon Hansen and assistant coach Anthony Espitia on the current staff.

The St. Cloud River Bats signed 2 St. Cloud State players to temporary contracts Sunday. The two are infielder Travis Cariveau and lefthanded pitcher Chris Kubitz. Cariveau is hitting .344 for SCSU this season and Kubitz is 3-0 with a 2.08 ERA in 18 relief appearances for the Huskies this season.

The St. Cloud River Bats released their 2011 promotional schedule. Some highlights include 4 fireworks extravaganzas: June 3, July 1, July 22 and August 13. ING Bat night is June 14, replica jersey night is June 20, Minnesota Twins night is June 21.

Former Twin 3rd baseman Gary Gaetti will be the special guest of the St. Cloud River Bats for their home opener Friday June 3 when they host Duluth at 7:05pm. Gaetti will be on hand to sign autographs, take pictures and throw out the ceremonial first pitch.

The St. Cloud River Bats are making single game tickets on sale Saturday April 23 at 9am. Fans can purchase tickets online at riverbats.com or at the River Bats ticket office on the west end of the MAC. The River Bats begin the 2011 schedule at Duluth on June 1 and will host Duluth June 3 in their home opener at Joe Faber Field.

The St. Cloud River Bats continue to construct their 2011 roster by signing catcher J.R. Reynolds. Reynolds is a 6'0 175 pound catcher from Ohio University. He is batting .250 in 5 games for the Bobcats this season. Reynolds joins Mitchell Garver of New Mexico as the catchers in the River Bats roster. The Bats complete roster can be found at riverbats.com.

The St. Cloud River Bats announced the signing of a lefthanded pitcher for the 2011 season. The Bats signed Zach Hirsch from Nebraska. He has appeared in 5 games in relief for Nebraska and has a 3.60 earned run average with 5 walks and 3 strikeouts. He joins fellow Cornhusker infielder Bryan Peters on the 15-man River Bats roster.

The St. Cloud River Bats have added 2 players to the 2011 roster. They announced the signing of outfielder/infielder Andy Henkemeyer of the University of Minnesota and first baseman Jeremy Banks of Youngstown State in Ohio. Henkemeyer is a 2009 Sauk Rapids-Rice High School graduate and primarily played outfield for the Storm in 2010.