LA CROSSE, WIS. – The La Crosse Loggers front office announced today that there entire coaching staff from the 2015 season will indeed return for a second year in the dugout and that they have added a fourth coach from the University of New Mexico. Field manager Bill Sandillo will once again be accompanied by assistant coaches Brian Lewis and Ted Falkner and the Loggers are excited to also announce the addition of Jacob Jarreau from the University of New Mexico.
Sandillo guided the Lumbermen to a 40-31 mark and a spot in the 2015 Northwoods League playoffs during his first season at the helm, the team’s first post-season appearance since they won the NWL Championship in 2012. The 40 wins marked the fourth highest win total in team history that was spearheaded by the most prolific offense in Loggers history. The 2015 Loggers set new single season team marks in batting average (.280), at-bats (2,420), runs scored (432), hits (678), doubles (127), triples (13), total bases (975, on-base percentage (.361) and slugging percentage (.403). The Sandillo-led Loggers also enjoyed the record-breaking season of the team’s first ever NWL MVP in Mason McCoy.
Sandillo continues to oversee three baseball-driven businesses near his home in Chandler, Ariz. He is the founder and CEO of Predator Performance Sports Management, a multi-faceted company that offers management services, marketing, personal training and instruction for athletes of all age groups. Past clients include Hall-of-Fame outfielder Frank Robinson and former Minnesota Twins outfielder Torii Hunter. In 2012, Sandillo founded and became the brand ambassador of the National Certified Coaches Association (NCCA) and in 2013 he became the co-director of ShowUsU.com, a baseball recruitment website that assists high school players garner recognition and be recruited by collegiate coaches across the country. Sandillo has also coached in the Cape Cod Summer Collegiate League and spent a summer managing the U.S. Military All-Stars. Sandillo, and his wife Wendy, reside in Chandler, Ariz. with their sons Roman and Albert.
Coach Brian Lewis will also be returning to join Sandillo in the Logger dugout, his fourth with the Loggers organizations. Lewis currently serves as the pitching coach at Viterbo University (La Crosse, Wisc.), where he works alongside fellow Loggers assistant coach Ted Falkner. Prior to joining the V-Hawks, Lewis served as the head coach of the La Crosse Central High School baseball program in during the 2014-2015 school year. Before moving to the La Crosse area, Coach Lewis was the hitting coach at Illinois Central College, and an assistant coach at Lewis & Clark Community College from 2001-2011. Lewis has also coached professionally in the Frontier League (Independent Pro). He was director of baseball operations as well as the hitting coach for the River City Rascals from 2003-2006. Lewis’ summer collegiate experience dates back to the years 2001-2003 when he was the field manager of the Dubois County Bombers of the Prospect League.
Coach Ted Falkner also returns to reunite with Sandillo and Lewis for a second stint in Logger green. Falkner took over the reins of the Viterbo University baseball program in the fall of 2014 after spending the previous five seasons as an assistant coach at Madonna University following a two-year run Ashford University, preceded by four seasons at Concordia University Ann Arbor. Falkner is certainly no stranger to summer collegiate baseball as he served as an assistant coach of the Lake Erie Monarchs of the Great Lakes League in 2004 and enjoyed his first go-around in the NWL in 2010 as an assistant with the Thunder Bay Border Cats. Falkner, and his wife Katie, reside in Onalaska, Wisc. with their sons Jackson and Miles.
The newest addition to the 2016 coaching staff comes from the University of New Mexico as the Loggers welcome Jacob Jarreau (Ja-Ru). Jarreau has been working as the Student-Manager at UNM since the fall of 2012 and will continue to do so through the 2017 season. Jarreau has spent the past three summers working as a camp instructor at the Lobo Baseball Camps in Albuquerque, Santa Fe & Ruidoso, New Mexico. Jarreau will coach first base next summer and work with the Loggers outfielders.
The La Crosse Loggers are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. Preparing for its 22nd season of summer collegiate baseball, 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 115 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) and Ben Zobrist (KC). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League YouTube channel. For more information, visit www.lacrosseloggers.com.
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