Mann, Rothenberg, and Chillari signed for 2018
La Crosse, Wis. – The La Crosse Loggers Baseball Club announced Monday that they have signed three more players from Duke University to its roster for the 2018 season. Outfielder Steve Mann, catcher Mike Rothenberg, and pitcher Bill Chillari will join their Duke teammate Hunter Davis this summer at Copeland Park for Loggers baseball.
Steve Mann is a 6-foot, 195-pound outfielder out of Farmington Hills, Michigan. that offers big league potential as a freshman. The former Gatorade Michigan Baseball Player of the Year was selected in the 38th round of the 2017 MLB Draft by the Detroit Tigers. Mann earned Rawlings-Perfect Game Third Team All-American recognition as well as First Team Central All-Region honors in 2017. In addition to his outstanding trophy case as a baseball and football star at Detroit Country Day School, Mann is also an accomplished student with a 3.94 GPA. The Detroit area standout enters Duke University as the number two overall recruit and top rated outfielder out of the state of Michigan.
Mike Rothenberg is a switch-hitting catcher out of Boca Raton, Florida. The 6-foot-3, 210-pound freshman attended Pine Crest School in Fort Lauderdale, Florida where he hit .436 as a senior. The future Blue Devil posted an incredible .551 on-base percentage while slugging .820 with eight home runs and six doubles. Rothenberg set the school record at Pine Crest for career home runs, breaking current Duke teammate Zack Kone’s previous program record of 19 long balls. A trend among incoming 2018 Loggers, Rothenberg was named to the 2017 Rawlings-Perfect Game Honorable Mention All-American team and All-Region First Team in Florida.
Bill Chillari is a sophomore left-handed pitcher that made 15 relief appearances for the Blue Devils last season. The 6-foot-2, 215-pound southpaw is a native of Richland, New Jersey where he was a four-year letter winner at St. Augustine Prep. His best outing as a Blue Devil came in a March 8th matchup against Mount St. Mary’s where Chillari dominated, retiring 12 straight batters over four shutout innings.
The trio of Duke additions will spend their spring in Durham, North Carolina on a roster very familiar with the La Crosse area, as it includes 2017 Logger Kennie Taylor and 2016 Logger Griffin Conine. Taylor was second on the team in batting average (.314) for the Blue Devils in 2017 after leading the Loggers in hitting last summer with a .330 mark. Conine hit 16 homers and drove in 47 runs for the Loggers in 2016 and is a projected first round pick in the 2018 MLB Draft.
Mann and Rothenberg will bring a combination of power and athleticism to the Loggers lineup in 2018, while Chillari’s bullpen experience and talent as a left-hander will make him a great asset to the Loggers’ pitching staff. For more information on the 2018 season, the current Loggers roster and schedule are available online at www.lacrosseloggers.com!
The La Crosse Loggers are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. Entering its 25th anniversary season, the Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 20 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 185 former Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS), two-time World Series Champion Ben Zobrist (CHC) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (BOS), Jordan Zimmermann (DET), Curtis Granderson (LAD) and Lucas Duda (TBR). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League portal. For more information, visit www.lacrosseloggers.com or download the new Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play and set the Loggers as your favorite team.