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Published On: September 7th, 2007

(Mankato, MN) – The Mankato MoonDogs Baseball Club, a member of the Northwoods League, is proud to announce field manager Jason Nell will return for a third season as field manager. Nell, who set a MoonDogs single-season franchise record with 35 wins (35-32 overall) this past summer, is determined to build off of a record breaking year and bring a playoff berth to Mankato for the first time.

The 2007 season was Nell’s third year in the NWL, as he was field manager the last two years and an assistant coach for the MoonDogs in 2005. With three years as coach, he has compiled an impressive win total of 101 wins (67 as field manager). With 35 victories this season, he also extended the 30+ win seasons streak to three.

After a slow start to the 2007 season, Nell and his squad made a strong finish in the second half that led to being eliminated from the playoffs with just two games remaining. Nell also led the MoonDogs to a 10-4 record to finish the year and also broke the MoonDogs record of road wins in a season with 17, which he set in 2006.

MoonDogs Owner and President Joe Schwei, feels Nell’s experience, work ethic, and development of players will keep the MoonDogs franchise in good hands.

"Jason is a high character individual. The MoonDogs organization is very secure knowing that Jason is at the helm. He is also one of the hardest working coaches I have been around,” said Schwei. "We believe that the player development experience in Mankato is second to none. Jason is a big part of that. He commits a tremendous amount of time and energy on the practice field, before any fans show up, to making each and every ballplayer better.”

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 six seasons. In that time he has produced five All-Americans and recorded 158 victories.

Over the past eleven 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 1998 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 also spent the summers of 2003 and 2004 as the head coach of the Estherville American Legion team.

The MoonDogs broke yet another total attendance mark with almost 40,000 fans for the 2007 season. Be sure to reserve your seat with the team next season. Limited premium seats and all other season ticket packages for 2008 will go on sale soon. Please check back to www.mankatomoondogs.com or call the MoonDogs Office at 507-625-7047 for more information.