The Eau Claire Express front office announced the hiring of Doug Raftery as the fourth radio broadcaster in the team’s history. Raftery replaces Rob Silvers, who called games in 2011. This will mark his first year in the Northwoods League, but third year broadcasting baseball. Doug’s past experience is at the independent and collegiate levels.

“Coming into this position, I know that both the Northwoods League and Eau Claire Express organization are top-notch,” Raftery said. “This position gives me the opportunity to provide Express fans with an exciting, in-depth broadcast, which is really exciting.”

Raftery began his broadcasting career as a summer intern with the Rockbridge Rapids in the Valley Baseball League in 2010 and continued gaining experience with the Florence Freedom of the Independent Frontier League in 2011. In addition, he broadcasted basketball and softball while attending college at Hood College in Frederick, Maryland.

“We are very excited to add Doug to the broadcast booth,” Express General Manager Andy Neborak stated. “It became clear to us that Doug enjoys and places a high value on preparation for each game, which is something that we think will be evident in the quality of his broadcasts.”

In addition to broadcasting all 70 Express games in 2012, Raftery will assist in the media relations department of the organization. This will include occasional game recaps on the website, integration of social media into the broadcast and contributions to the Express game-day program.

The Brick, NJ native is on track to graduate from Hood College in May of 2012 with a Communication Arts degree with a broadcasting emphasis. He follows Greg Pangallo, Scott Montesano and Rob Silvers to become the fourth broadcaster as Eau Claire enters its eighth year of play in the Northwoods League.