The Mankato MoonDogs Baseball Club, a member of the Northwoods League, is proud to announce signing of two Big 10 pitchers. Emanuel "Manny” Bishop of the University of Illinois and Skyler Young from Purdue University have both signed to play for the 2004 MoonDogs.

Bishop (6’2” 190 lbs.) hailing from Fairview Heights, Illinois, is in his sophomore season with the Fighting Illini. On a team heavily dominated by upper-classmen, Bishop is learning from the veterans while seeing limited action this year. Originally a freshman in 2002, Bishop red-shirted that year and worked his way into the starting lineup in 2003.

Over the past two summers, Bishop has been honing his skills while playing for the Bluff City Bombers, of the Central Illinois Collegiate League, where in 2003 he was selected to the league All-Star team.

"Manny has a lot of talent and I know he will be a big asset to the MoonDogs this summer,” MoonDogs head coach Brad Rupert said.

Young, standing 6’4” and weighing 195 lbs., is a red-shirt freshman who is gaining valuable experience from veteran leadership on the Boilermakers team. Young was a standout athlete over the last 4 years at LaCrosse High School, in LaCrosse Ind. Striking out 445 batters in his career, Young finished high school with 19 varsity letters in four different sports including cross country, volleyball, track and baseball.

"I think a summer in this league is exactly what Skyler needs. It will put him up against some of the best in college baseball and let him prove why we have him on our team,” Rupert added.

The signing of both Bishop and Young bring the MoonDogs roster to near capacity with only 19 days until opening day. Single game and season tickets are still available for all 32 MoonDogs home games at Franklin Rogers Park.