Loggers Bring Back Familiar Coach to Lead in 2027, Devin Burke Named Field Manager
LA CROSSE, WIS. – As the La Crosse Loggers build their roster for their 25th season of play in 2027 they’ll do so with a new, but not new, leader in the dugout as team officials announced that former Logger pitching coach Devin Burke will be their new field manager when the club takes the field next May. Burke replaces 2026 field manager Justin Ramsey, who recently accepted the full-time pitching coach position at Cal-State Fullerton.
Burke was the Loggers’ Pitching Coach under then skipper Josh Frye (2023-2024). The Frye / Burke coaching tandem managed La Crosse to the NWL playoffs two years in a row, a Loggers first at that time. After La Crosse won the Great Plains East Division championship in 2023, the Loggers progressed to the NWL Championship game in 2024, falling to Kalamazoo in a 14-inning marathon. The 2024 squad featured NWL top-quartile strikeout results (Ks, K/9), plus dramatically improved BAA (NWL #8) and WHIP (#12).
Burke currently serves as the pitching coach for the Middlebury College Panthers (D3) during the NCAA season and 2027 will be his sixth season with Middlebury. Burke’s pitching development program at Middlebury produced three second team all-conference pitchers honored in 2019, 2025 & 2026. Middlebury’s 2026 pitching staff posted the lowest WHIP and BAA in NESCAC contests while ranking #3 overall in conference stats (including K/9, K/BB). His 2019 pitching staff led NESCAC in ERA (3.42), K/BB ratio (2.12) and WHIP (1.27), and was nationally ranked No. 9 in lowest hits per 9 IP (7.71) and No. 20 in ERA. Middlebury won the NESCAC in 2025.
Prior to returning to Middlebury, Burke led the Division I Wagner (NY) Seahawks pitching staff where they set a team season strikeout record in 2023, featuring the fifth best K/BB statistic in 25 years. Wagner’s pitchers were collectively ranked third in the NEC. Burke mentored 3 all-conference pitchers, including 2026 Cleveland Guardians 10th round pick Ryan Bilka. The 2023 Seahawks eclipsed the 30-win mark for only the 3rd time in the previous 25 years.
Before embarking on his coaching career, Burke pitched for five seasons in the Colorado Rockies organization, splitting time between the starting rotation and the bullpen, while posting 18 wins over 92 games (344.2 innings). The right-hander struck out 279 batters in his career while allowing just 91 walks, a 3.07 to 1 strikeout-to-walk ratio. In 2013, he was named a Pioneer League Postseason All-Star after posting a 5-2 record with the Grand Junction Rockies and was promoted to the Triple-A Albuquerque Isotopes in 2015 and 2016. Burke’s Rockies pitching career was curtailed by injury prior to the start of the 2017 season.
Burke later pitched for the New Britain Bees in 2018 and 2019. In 2019, Burke was named an Atlantic League Mid-Season All-Star. At that All-Star Game, Burke pitched in the first-ever professional baseball game where the TrackMan Automated Ball-Strike System was used.
A graduate of Virginia Tech, Burke pitched the Hokies into the ACC Conference Finals and NCAA Regionals in 2013; he was nationally ranked #11 in wins (11-3). Devin was named to the 2013 NCAA Blacksburg Regional All-Star team and was selected as a 2013 Gregg Olson “Comeback Player of the Year” semi-finalist. At the D-1 level, Devin played for two seasons in the Cape Cod Baseball League, including pitching for the 2011 CCBL Championship winner, the Harwich Mariners. He has been an instructor at the Diamond Training & Development pitching lab in Sunnyvale CA, with the Bobby Valentine Sports Academy in Stamford CT, and with the Connecticut Blue Jays – where he coached current LA Dodgers pitcher Emmet Sheehan.
Burke and the Loggers will open their 25th season of play in May of 2027. The 2027 schedule is expected to be released from the league office later this month. Season tickets, group outings, flex plans and Opening Day ticket packages are on sale now with ticket information available at www.lacrosseloggers.com or by calling the Loggers ticket office at 608-796-9553. The Loggers office is also open Monday thru Friday, 8:30 am – 5 p.m., at 1225 Caledonia Street, La Crosse.
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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 33rd season, the Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in history with 26 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, nearly 2400 NWL alums have been drafted and over 435 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 (TOR), two-time World Series Champions Ben Zobrist and Brandon Crawford and World Series Champion Chris Sale (ATL). As well as 2019 Rookie of the Year and 2019/2021 Home Run Derby Champion Pete Alonso (BAL) and 2023 World Series Champion, MLB All-Star, MLB Gold Glove, two-time Silver Slugger winner and two-time All-MLB first team shortstop Marcus Semien (NYM). League games are viewable live on FloSports.tv. For more information, visit www.lacrosseloggers.com or download the Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play and set the Rockers as your favorite team.