Mankato, Minn. – The Mankato MoonDogs Baseball Club, of the Northwoods League, is excited to announce the 2015 Coaching Staff of Ryan Day, Austin Flores, Matt Wollenzin and Tim Nolan.
After spending last season as the Pitching Coach for the Summer Collegiate World Series runner-up Mankato MoonDogs, Ryan Day returns for his second season with the team and first year as the Field Manager. Day takes over a team that won 44 games last summer, and has been to the Northwoods League Playoffs four of the last six seasons.
As a player, he spent two years at Fullerton College as a catcher and outfielder. In his first year at Concordia, Day saw split time between outfield and pitching, before making the full transition to the back end of the bullpen in 2011. At Concordia, Day ranks third in single season saves with eight, all coming in 2011.
In 2012, Day was the varsity Pitching Coach at Tustin High School under Head Coach Joe Secoda, where the team advanced to the second round of the California Interscholastic Federation playoffs.
An alumni of Concordia University-Irvine, Ryan Day returned to coach in 2013, which included being a part of the baseball program’s first ever NAIA National Championship in 2011. He is in his third year as a Pitching Coach at Concordia University-Irvine.
Day graduated from Concordia University in 2011 with a Bachelor's in Communications, followed by a Masters in Coaching & Athletic Administration completed in 2014.
Austin Flores is back again this season with the MoonDogs as an Assistant Coach. He is in his second year as an Assistant Coach at Nicholls State University, a member of the Southland Conference in Thibodaux, Louisiana, where he also played two seasons. In his playing career, he was a mainstay on the left side of the infield. Flores coaches infielders and assist with hitters and in 2014 he coached the infielding unit to a Division I regular season lead in double plays turned. He began as a high school coach in his hometown of Ft. Meyers, Florida.
This is Flores’s second summer with the MoonDogs, and will handle hitters and third base coaching responsibilities. Flores said he is excited to be back and work with Field Manager Ryan Day saying, “I look forward to this summer and can’t wait to be back in Mankato, you can’t ask for a better atmosphere than ‘The Frank’ and a more competitive league to coach in during the summer than the Northwoods”.
Matt Wollenzin is entering his first season with the Mankato MoonDogs coaching staff, where he will be the Assistant Hitting Coach and will be in charge of first base coaching responsibilities. Wollenzin comes from Austin Peay State University, where he was a four-year starter between catcher, designated hitter, and first base. During his playing career at Austin Peay, the team qualified for three NCAA Regional as well as making it to two regional championships.
Wollenzin is no stranger to the Northwoods League or the MoonDogs, in 2013 he called The Frank and Mankato home. During the summer, he compiled a .264 average with four homeruns, 26 runs driven in and was a Northwoods League All-Star. He spent his first summer out of collegiate baseball coaching the Davy Jones Angels in Arvada, Colorado followed by assisting with fall baseball for the Clarksville Orioles in Clarksville, Tennessee. Wollenzin graduated from Austin Peay State University with a BA in Health and Human Performance in 2014 and is currently working on his MA in Health Care Administration while assisting with the 2015 Austin Peay Governors baseball team.
Tim Nolan comes to the MoonDogs for his first season as the Pitching Coach. The La Habra, California native graduated from Sonora High School and went on to pitch collegiately for Fullerton College and Biola University. In his junior season at Biola, Nolan successfully converted 7 saves in 7 opportunities, the second most in the Golden State Athletic Conference.
Nolan began giving private lessons to players after an injury took him out of the game. Today he continues this business that primarily offers consultations, clinics and seminars addressing the mental aspects of the game where he regularly works with Division I athletes.
At the collegiate level Nolan has coached with the East LA Dodgers of the NBC League and the OC Blue Sharks of the Orange County Collegiate League.
He received a Bachelor of Arts from Azusa Pacific and had an opportunity to be part of the Azusa Pacific Baseball team.
Nolan is currently pursuing an MA in Coaching/Student Athlete Development (Sport Psychology) at Long Beach State, while serving as an Assistant Varsity Baseball Coach at Sage Hill High School in Newport Beach, California.
The MoonDogs home opener is scheduled for Wednesday, May 27, at 7:05 p.m. against the Rochester Honkers at Franklin Rogers Park. Season tickets are now on sale at the MoonDogs office located at 1221 Caledonia Street.
“The Mankato MoonDogs are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. Playing its 22nd season of summer collegiate baseball in 2015, the Northwoods League is the largest organized 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 120 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (CWS), Jordan Zimmermann (WAS), Curtis Granderson (NYM), Allen Craig (BOS) and Ben Zobrist (OAK). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League Website. For more information, visit http://www.mankatomoondogs.com
