LA CROSSE, WI – The La Crosse Loggers baseball club announced their first player signing of the off-season today and it came in the form of a very familiar face to baseball fans of the La Crosse area. University of Minnesota sophomore, and La Crosse Central High alum, Bobby Juan will be returning for his second season in 2012 team officials announced today.

Juan broke onto the Northwoods League scene in a big way this past summer as a freshman for the Lumbermen when he contributed both at the plate and on the mound. The left-handed hitting Juan ranked second on the team in batting average (.319), fourth in games played (54), he led the club in homers (6) and ranked third in RBI’s (30). His on-base percentage (.406), slugging percentage (.514) and OPS (.920) also all ranked second on the Loggers, trailing only team-leader Andrew Knapp in all three categories. When he wasn’t swinging his big bat, Juan also logged some significant innings for the Loggers out of the bullpen as well sporting a 4.60 ERA while striking out 11 batters over 15.2 innings of work.

Juan will be looking to carry the momentum of a very productive summer over to his second year with the Gophers. As a freshman in 2011, he saw action in 19 games, including five starts as a true freshman where had 48 at bats with eight hits, one home run, two runs, two RBI and a batting average of .167.

The La Crosse native was named the Gatorade and Louisville Slugger State Player of the Year for the state of Wisconsin in 2010 and was also a Third-Team ABCA All-American. Juan was a three-time All- State, All-Area and All-Conference honoree at La Crosse Central High School.