One of the most popular players to wear a Border Cats uniform is returning to Thunder Bay as former catcher Danny Benedetti will join the club as an assistant coach for the 2011 Northwoods League season.
Benedetti, who turns 25 next month, played two seasons with the Border Cats in 2007 and 2008 and was a member of the 2008 NWL Championship team. The native of Long Beach, CA, played his collegiate baseball at California’s Irvine Valley Community College and at St. John’s University in New York.
Benedetti had a career .281 batting average in 86 games for Thunder Bay. He was limited to only 28 games in 2008 after suffering a broken thumb midway through the season. Also joining the coaching staff this season under manager Mike Steed is Jim Klemann of Belgrade, MT. Klemann is currently an assistant coach at Jamestown College in North Dakota, where he helped lead the Johnnies to the 2010 Dakota Athletic Conference Championship.
The Border Cats have also added four more players to their 2011 roster with the additions of pitcher Stefan Olson, pitcher Jon Carlson, infielder Cullen Mahoney and outfielder Max Vogel.
Olson is a 6’5", 180 pound righthander from Ladera Ranch, CA. He is currently a sophomore at Columbia University in New York. Olson has pitched in six games, including four starts for the Lions this season , and is 1-0 with one save and a 1.55 earned run average.
Carlson is a 6’5", 215 pound lefthander and is a freshman at Parkland Junior College in Champaign, IL. Carlson is off to a good start this season, going 5-1 in six games with a 1.45 ERA. The southpaw from Rolling Meadows, IL, has 22 strikeouts in 31 innings pitched plus one complete game shutout.
Mahoney is a sophomore and plays his collegiate ball at South Mountain Community College in his hometown of Phoenix, AZ. The 6’1", 180 pound shortstop has played in 39 games for the Jaguars this season and is hitting .411 with 10 doubles, 17 runs batted in and 12 stolen bases. Mahoney will attend California’s Loyola Marymount University this coming fall.
Vogel, who hails from Hopewell, PA, is a sophomore at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, SC. The 6’2", 195 pound outfielder has played in 13 games this season and is batting .231 with two doubles and 4 RBI’s. Vogel hit .293 for Winthrop in 2010.
The Border Cats have also announced that outfielder Eric Aguilera of Illinois State University will not be able to play this summer after suffering a fractured hamate bone in his right hand when he was hit by a pitch. It’s the same injury that forced former Border Cats first baseman Curtis Wagner (Santa Clara University), to miss the 2010 Northwoods League season.
