La Crosse, Wis. – The La Crosse Loggers Baseball Club announced today that one of their own, former Loggers pitcher Josh Frye, will be returning in 2022 as the team’s new pitching coach to join newly hired field manager Rob Sidwell in the Loggers dugout.
Frye, who played his collegiate baseball at Long Beach State, was a late summer addition to the Loggers in 2012 and helped them to their only NWL Championship that summer. He came back to La Crosse with a vengeance in the summer of 2013, going 6-3 with a 3.31 ERA. Frye made 12 starts over the summer, pitching a team-high 76.0 innings, while striking out a league-high 79. Frye was named a 2013 Northwoods League mid- and post-season All-Star, and the 2013 La Crosse Loggers Cy Young Award Winner.
“To see this come full circle for Josh and us has so many positives lined up as we prepare for our 20th anniversary season, we couldn’t be more excited,” exclaimed Loggers team president Chris Goodell. “Josh has excelled at some of the highest levels of baseball including within in our own league both as a player and as a coach, his experiences will be a very valuable resource to our incoming pitchers.”
At Long Beach State, Frye was named a 2014 First Team Big West Pitcher and a 2014 second team All-American after going 8-1 with a 1.94 ERA. In addition to his time with the Loggers, Frye also played summer ball for the Long Beach Legends of the California Collegiate League, where he was their 2012 Pitcher of the Year and was inducted into the Long Beach Legends Hall of Fame in 2015.
Frye played professionally after college, spending two years in the Los Angeles Angels organization, a year in the Frontier League, and finishing his final two years in the Western Australia League. He began his coaching career in 2016 as the Assistant Pitching Coach at Long Beach State in 2016, before becoming the pitching coach at Cypress College. The Long Beach, Calif. native also spent two summers coaching in the Northwoods League with the Rochester Honkers during the summers of 2017-18 before moving on to his current position as the pitching coach at St. John Bosco High School in Bellflower, Calif.
“10 years ago, I played my first game as a Logger. I am so excited to now return to La Crosse as a coach,” exclaimed Frye. “It’s truly such a welcoming and motivating organization, I have always felt so at home with this team. I hope to serve as a mentor for these athletes, with a goal to bring a championship back to Logger Nation.”
Coach Frye, Coach Sidwell and the rest of the Loggers will open their 2022 campaign in late May of next year. The 2022 Northwoods League schedule is set to be released later this month. Season tickets for the 20th anniversary season of Loggers Baseball are on sale now with information available at www.lacrosseloggers.com or by calling the Loggers ticket office at 608-796-9553. Fans can also visit the Loggers office at 1225 Caledonia Street, La Crosse between 8:30-5, Monday thru Friday.
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The La Crosse Loggers are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. The Northwoods League is the proven leader in the development of elite college baseball players. Having completed its’ 28th season, the Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 22 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, over 250 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including three-time All-Star and 2016 Roberto Clemente Award winner Curtis Granderson, three-time Cy Young Award winner and World Series Champion Max Scherzer (WAS), two-time World Series Champions Ben Zobrist and Brandon Crawford (SFG) and World Series Champion Chris Sale (BOS). As well as 2019 Rookie of the Year and Home Run Derby Champion Pete Alonso (NYM) and MLB Gold Glove finalist and 2019 Second Team All-MLB shortstop Marcus Semien (TOR). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League website. 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.
