Josh Frye is returning for his second stint as the field manager of the La Crosse Loggers in 2024, marking his seventh season in the Northwoods League as both a player and a coach.
Frye, a California native, led the Lumbermen to a 40-28 (.588) mark in 2023 including a Great Plains East division championship and a return to the playoffs for the first time since 2020. That postseason berth did not come easy for the Loggers as Frye navigated the 2023 team through a 12-game losing streak in June before going on to win a team-record 27 games in the second half of the season en route to capturing the division title. After starting the season 3-12, La Crosse went 39-17 from June 16 through the end of the season and into the playoffs. The Loggers would sweep the Eau Claire Express in a best-of-three divisional series before eventually losing in walk-off fashion to the St. Cloud Rox in the Great Plains Divisional Championship Game.
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.
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 has spent three previous summers coaching in the Northwoods League, including a stop with the Rochester Honkers during the summers of 2017-18 before re-joining the Loggers as the pitching coach in 2022. Frye also currently serves as the pitching coach at Long Beach City College (Calif.).
Twitter Handle: @jfrye45
Nick Emanuel is embarking on his first season as an assistant coach with the Loggers, but is certainly no stranger to the Northwoods League after spending a portion of the 2017 season as a catcher with the Duluth Huskies.
During the school year, Emanuel is enjoying his third season as an assistant coach on head coach TJ Oakes’ staff at UW-Superior. He is involved in all facets of the program, and is the team’s primary catching and assistant hitting coach.
Emanuel came to the Yellowjackets after a five-year career at NCAA Division I North Dakota State. He captained the Bison to the 2021 Summit League championship and an appearance in the NCAA Stanford Regional.
Emanuel played in 95 career games, finishing with nine doubles, four home runs and 38 RBIs. He holds the NDSU career record for best fielding percentage at .995, committing just three errors in 572 total chances.
Following graduation, Emanuel would sign a professional contract with the Great Falls Voyagers of the Pioneer League.
A native of Esko, Minn., Emanuel graduated with a degree in Management Communication with minors in Business Administration and Sociology.
Former Logger player Aidan Sweatt returns to La Crosse and the Northwoods League in 2025, now as an assistant coach. The former standout infielder from Liberty University will man the first base coaches box and work with Logger infielders and hitters.
Sweatt was a standout for the Lumbermen over two different seasons (2021, 2023) as he played in 81 games over the course of those two NWL seasons hitting .284 for his Loggers career, recording four home runs, 58 RBI’s and 27 stolen bases. The slick-fielding infielder ranks in the Top 5 in multiple Loggers offensive career categories. Sweatt also earned 2023 NWL All-Star honors, a 2023 Finest in the Field Award and was the 2021 John D. Schmaltz “For Love of the Game” award recipient.
The Fernandina Beach, Fla. native spent his first three collegiate seasons at the University of North Florida where he played in 154 games and hit .312 with 194 hits, earning 2023 A-Sun third team all-conference honors. Sweatt then wrapped up his illustrious collegiate career at Liberty in 2024 where he hit. 289 over a team-best 58 games played.
Dakota Greer is in the midst of his first season as the Loggers pitching coach and brings with him a wealth of experience to La Crosse from his post as the pitching coach at Oakland City University (Indiana).
Greer joined Oakland City University in the fall of 2023 as the pitching coach. In his first year with the Mighty Oaks, his pitching staff had a 3.54 ERA, ranking third in all of NAIA Baseball during the 2024 Spring season. During this season, two of the Oaks’ pitchers set single season records (wins and strikeouts).
Before coaching at Oakland City University, Greer had coached at Bismarck State College, Midway University and Frontier Community College.
The Kentucky native played his college ball at Olney Central College and Midway University, where he graduated with a Bachelor’s in Sports Management and a Master’s of Business Administration.