The Mankato MoonDogs are excited to announce four more players who will be joining the team for the 2019 season.  Brett Newberg, James Gargano, Carson Childers, and Trevor Smisek will head to Mankato this summer to play for new field manager Matt Wollenzin.

Newberg, a senior from Austin Peay, is returning to Mankato for an unprecedented fourth season as a MoonDog.  Over the last three summers, the left-handed pitcher has posted a 15-4 record, a 2.82 ERA, and 100 strikeouts.  He will become the first ever four-year MoonDog.

Gargano, a sophomore outfielder from Naperville, IL, comes to Mankato from Butler University.  In 2018, Gargano made 35 starts for the Bulldogs, posting a .277 batting average, the fifth-highest on the team.  During his senior year of high school, he was named the 2017 Chicago Tribune/Naperville Sun Player of the Year.

Childers, from Round Rock, TX, is a redshirt freshman out of Angelo St. University.  The right-handed pitcher was scheduled to be a redshirt freshman in 2018, but had to have Tommy John surgery.  In high school, Childers threw a no-hitter for Round Rock High School.

Smisek, a junior from Le Center, MN, is a left-handed pitcher from St. Leo University.  He came to the Lions after transferring from Ellsworth Community College.  In his sophomore season, Smisek threw 49.2 innings, posting a 3-6 record with a 6.34 ERA and 50 strikeouts.

The Northwoods League is the proven leader in the development of elite college baseball players. The 25-year old summer collegiate 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 200 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS), two-time World Series Champions Ben Zobrist (CHC) and Brandon Crawford (SFG) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (BOS), Jordan Zimmermann (DET) and Curtis Granderson (MIA). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League website. For more information, visit www.northwoodsleague.com or download the Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play.