Contact: Colton Andresen

Date: November 27, 2019

Loggers Announce 2020 Coaching Staff

La Crosse, Wis. – The La Crosse Loggers announced on Wednesday that Brian Lewis, Tom Kinney, and Rob Sidwell will return to the Loggers coaching staff for the 2020 season, with the addition of assistant coach Dominic Anagnos.

Field Manager – Brian Lewis

La Crosse field manager Brian Lewis will be returning for his fifth season at the helm for the Loggers in 2020. In four seasons as the La Crosse skipper, Lewis has accumulated a 146-140 record (.510) with a total of three winning seasons after a 37-35 finish in 2019. The Alton, Illinois native will be entering his eighth season in the Loggers organization after serving as an assistant coach from 2013-15 aiding the Lumbermen to a 116-97 record (.545) and 2015 Northwoods League playoff appearance.

Under Lewis’ guidance the last four seasons, La Crosse has produced 13 All-Northwoods League selections including JT Schwartz (UCLA), Ryan Holgate (Arizona), and Jared Freilich (Penn State) from the 2019 campaign. Former Loggers under Lewis that have been selected to the postseason All-NWL team include 2018 honorees Braiden Ward (Washington), Shane McGuire (San Diego) and Harrison Freed (Butler), 2017 representatives David Villar (South Florida), Kennie Taylor (Duke) and Korey Lee (California), as well as a 2016 league-high four All-NWLers in Mason McCoy (Iowa), Griffin Conine (Duke), Cullen Large (William & Mary) and Nick Raquet (William & Mary). The Loggers have developed the most Northwoods League players drafted over the previous four seasons, including 21 in the 2017 Major League Baseball Draft, 20 draftees in 2018, and a team record 22 former Loggers selected in 2019.

Along with serving as the field manager of the Loggers, Lewis is also enjoying his fourth season as the head coach of the Viterbo University (La Crosse) V-Hawks.  Prior to joining the V-Hawks, Lewis served as the head coach of the La Crosse Central High School baseball program during the 2014-2015 school year.  Before moving to the La Crosse area, Lewis was the hitting coach at Illinois Central College and an assistant coach at Lewis & Clark Community College from 2001-2011. Lewis also coached professionally in the Frontier League (Independent Professional) where 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 for the Dubois County Bombers of the Prospect League.  During his time in the coaching ranks, Lewis has coached four current and/or former major league players including Joe Thatcher, Cory Wade, Jeff Gray and Justin Christian.

Pitching Coach – Tom Kinney

Tom Kinney returns for his fifth season in La Crosse, leading the Loggers pitching staff once again in 2020.  Loggers hurlers have amassed 2,012 strikeouts over the past four seasons under Kinney’s direction, including breaking the franchise single-season mark on two separate occasions in 2017 and 2018.  Kinney has played a key role in the development of several Loggers pitchers who are now in professional baseball, listed by year below:

2018 – Ryan Anderson (12th Round ’19, New York-AL), Ted Stuka (14th Round ’19, Detroit), Eric Mock (25th Round ’19, Cleveland)

2017 – Grant Ford (5th Round ’19, Pittsburgh)

2016 – Nick Raquet (3rd Round ’17, Washington), Jack Ralston (7th Round ’19, St. Louis), Cason Sherrod (7th Round Pick ’18, Miami), Andrew Perez (8th Round ’18, Chicago-AL), Connor Wollersheim (8th Round ’19, New York-NL), Jonathan Teaney (20th Round ’17, Cleveland), Jared Liebelt (20th Round ’19, Arizona), Graham Spraker (31st Round ’17, Toronto), Randy Labaut (35th Round ’19, Cleveland)

Kinney grew up in Morton, Ill. and played at four different colleges including Olney Central College, Illinois Central College, Florida Atlantic University and Bradley University.  After Bradley, he signed a free agent contract with the St. Louis Cardinals and went on to win the Rolaids Relief Award of the Arizona Rookie League in 1990.  The following year he was converted to a starter in the South Atlantic League before being released later that year.  Kinney then began a career in law enforcement and is a retired office from Aurora, Ill.  After retirement from the police force, Kinney began coaching at Waubonsee Community College for three years and then moved on to Illinois Central College for three years. Tom has three sons (Thomas, Kyle and Chase).

Hitting Coach – Rob Sidwell

Rob Sidwell returns for his second season in La Crosse as the Loggers hitting coach and will also be assuming the responsibility of third base coach for the 2020 season. Sidwell, a baseball veteran and Florida native, helped the Loggers offense set a franchise single-season record for doubles (133) and walks (374) in 2020. Sidwell’s professional baseball roots run deep throughout Florida as he served as the Florida Scouting Supervisor for four major-league teams spanning a period of 18 years.  Sidwell was the Florida Scouting Supervisor for the Los Angeles Dodgers from 2010-2014.  Prior to that, Sidwell served in the same capacity for the San Diego Padres (2007-2010), New York Mets (2005-2007) and the Pittsburgh Pirates (1996-2005).  Sidwell has signed numerous players that went on to play in the major leagues, most notably, Andrew McCutchen, the 2013 NL Most Valuable Player.  That list also includes the likes of fellow big leaguers Miles Mikolas, Todd Redmond, Cole Figueroa and Keyvius Sampson.

In addition to Sidwell’s extensive professional scouting background, he has also coached collegiately at Central Florida from 1992-1996, Florida International from 1990-1992, and Flagler (1987).  Sidwell has also coached in the summer collegiate baseball world including stops in the Cape Cod League, Valley League and most recently in the Florida Collegiate League. Sidwell, and his wife Molly, have three children (Jake, Kirk and Marissa).  His eldest son Jake played collegiately at Davidson College and is currently an assistant coach at George Washington University.  Kirk played collegiately at Stetson University.

Assistant Coach – Dominic Anagnos

The newest addition to the Loggers coaching staff is Round Rock, Texas native Dominic Anagnos. Dominic joins the Loggers to serve as assistant coach and will work primarily with infielders as well as man the first base coach’s box for the 2020 season. Currently a graduate student pursuing an MBA in Sport Management at Southeastern University in Lakeland, FL, Anagnos is also the infield coach and assistant hitting coach for the Southeastern Fire of the NAIA. Anagnos is in the midst of his first year on the Southeastern coaching staff after playing two seasons for the Fire and earning a degree in Kinesiology. During his playing career at Southeastern, Anagnos started 121 of 131 games and helped lead Southeastern to a combined 112-19 record and 2018 NAIA World Series Championship. Dominic hit .306 his junior season and .371 as a senior, amassing 136 hits, 22 doubles, and 123 runs scored in two years.

Prior to Southeastern, Anagnos played two seasons at North Lake Community College in Texas and spent a semester at Purdue University before transferring to Southeastern. Although he has never previously visited Wisconsin, Anagnos is eager to begin his first summer in the Northwoods League. “I’ve heard great things about the La Crosse area and its beautiful summers,” Anagnos said, “I’m excited for the grind of 72 games in 77 days and look forward to advancing my coaching career with this great opportunity.” Before arriving in La Crosse this summer, Anagnos will be focused on his master’s degree and spring baseball at Southeastern, who has earned a top 5 preseason ranking in the NAIA Baseball Coaches’ Poll. Dominic has two older brothers, Vincent and Brad, and one younger sister named Stella.