LA CROSSE, WIS. – The La Crosse Loggers baseball club added three talented freshmen from national power Texas A & M today when club officials announced the signings infielders Ronnie Gideon and Ryne Birk as well as right-handed pitcher Mark Ecker.
Gideon comes from a baseball family. His dad, Ron, is currently the development supervisor for the Colorado Rockies Short Season A Affiliate, the Tri-City Dust Devils and played professionally as a two-way threat from 1984-90 in both the Phillies and Mets organizations. Ronnie, Jr. has followed in his father’s footsteps. The Hallsville, Texas native was a 2013 Louisville Slugger First Team High School All-American before being selected by the Rockies in the 35th Round of the MLB Draft this past June. The 6-3, 240 pound slugger decided to wait on professional baseball and entered Texas A & M this past fall where he has the ability to play 3B, 1B and catch. Gideon was ranked as the #3 third baseman in the state of Texas coming out of high school and was named the 2011 East Texas Player of the Year.
Ryne Birk was a highly touted middle infielder coming out of Seven Lakes High School in Katy,Texas that the Aggie staff coveted. “Ryne was one of the first commitments of our 2013 class and is kind of the heartbeat of the class,” says Aggie skipper Rob Childress. “Everybody knows who Ryne Birk is. He’s a dirtbag. He can run, he can hit and he’s going to make a major impact for us,” continued Childress. A slick-fielding middle-infielder, Perfect Game ranked the left-handed hitting Birk as one of the top 200 freshman in the country and the #2 shortstop coming out of the state of Texas.
Hard-throwing right-hander Mark Ecker also has the ability to make an impact as a freshman for the Aggies next spring and for the Lumbermen next summer. The 2012 San Antonio (Texas)Player of the Year has also been tabbed as a Top 200 freshman in the nation by Perfect Game and the #7 right-handed pitcher coming out of the state of Texas. At 6-2, 190 pounds Ecker has the ability to run his fastball up into the low 90’s.
The La Crosse Loggers are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. Playing its 21st season of summer collegiate baseball,the Northwoods League is the largest organized summer collegiate baseball league in the world with 18 teams,drawing significantly more fans, in a friendly ballpark experience, than any league of its kind. A valuable training ground for coaches, umpires and front office staff, more than 115 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including MLB All-Stars Max Scherzer (DET), Chris Sale (CWS), Jordan Zimmermann(WAS), Curtis Granderson (NYY), Allen Craig (STL) and Ben Zobrist (TB). All league games are viewable live and free of charge via the Northwoods League YouTube channel. For more information,visit www.lacrosseloggers.com.