(Mankato, MN)—The Mankato MoonDogs Baseball Club, a member of the Northwoods League, is proud to announce assistant coach Jason Nell has been promoted to field manager for the upcoming 2006 season. Nell will become the fourth field manager in MoonDogs history.

"Jason’s experience as a collegiate head coach and the overwhelming approval of the MoonDogs players made naming Jason as our field manager an easy choice,” MoonDogs owner Joe Schwei said.

Last season, in both his first year in the Northwoods League and with the MoonDogs, Nell helped in leading the team to 34 victories, the most in any single-season for the MoonDogs. Nell is currently the head coach at Iowa Lakes Community College in Estherville, Iowa, where he has served as the head coach for Lakers over the past three seasons. In that time he has increased the programs’ winning percentage every year, and in 2003-2004 led the Lakers to their first 30-win season in recent memory.

"It has become very apparent over the last few years, that experience in the Northwoods League wins as many games as expertise; with Coach Nell I think we will get the best of both worlds,” general manger Kyle Mrozek said.

Over the past nine seasons, Nell has put together an impressive coaching resume. Starting in his final season of play for University of Wisconsin River Falls, Nell took the reigns as head coach of the Somerset, WI, High School team. After finishing school in 1996, he returned to his alma mater as an assistant in 1997 and 1998.

He spent the summer of ’98 in New York as a specialist at a private sports camp before joining Loras College (Dubuque, IA) for 3 years as an assistant, while he earned his master’s degree in sports administration. From there he took the head coaching position he currently holds at Iowa Lakes and has also spent the summers of 2003 and 2004 as the head coach of the Estherville American Legion team.

"It was an honor and privilege to coach along with Huff last year and I am grateful for the opportunity Joe and Kyle have given me. Last year Huff really raised the bar and now it is up to me to continue at that level,” Nell said. "It was amazing to see the passion the entire organization has for the game, but it’s not just the organization, it’s the city of Mankato, it’s the host families, it’s everyone involved and they deserve nothing but the best and that is what I intend to give them.”

Nell, a native of Milwaukee, is married to the former Lisa Olson of Hudson, Wisconsin. They are expecting the birth of their first child in December.

For more information please go to www.mankatomoondogs.com or call the MoonDogs ticket office at 507-625-7047.