2023 MoonDogs Coaching Staff

 

Danny Kneeland – Manager                                                                           

COACH EMAIL: dkneeland8@gmail.com

CURRENTLY: Assistant Coach at Bethany Lutheran College

HOMETOWN: Windom, MN

HIGH SCHOOL: Windom Area HS

COLLEGE: Bethany Lutheran

Entering his second season as MoonDog Manager, as well as his first full season at the helm, MoonDog Manager Danny Kneeland looks to continue some of the success he found with Mankato after piloting the club to a 21-13 second half finish in 2022.

Kneeland, 28, took over as the manager of the MoonDogs before the second half of last season, taking over for Matt Wolenzin, who departed to take a collegiate coaching position after the first half of the season.

Currently an Assistant Coach at Bethany Lutheran College, where he played for two seasons in 2016 and 2017, Kneeland just wrapped up his sixth year on staff for the Vikings. He was also on the staff with Wollenzin his first two years at BLC.

During his time as a player at BLC, Kneeland would finish top-ten in program history with 497 putouts (second place), 17 caught stealings (3rd place), and 23 stolen bases (8th place). Playing in 69 career games over two seasons, Kneeland slashed .258/.352/.266 with 21 career RBI and 58 career hits. Across his time with the program, Kneeland proved to be a versatile player, appearing at catcher, second base, third base, and right field.

Kneeland graduated from Bethany Lutheran following his playing Kneeland playing at BLC career in 2017 with a degree in Secondary Social Studies Education. During his time at BLC, he has helped the team to four winning seasons and two appearances in the Division III tournament.

Tanner Cunha – Pitching Coach

CURRENTLY: Assistant Coach at Sacramento City College

HOMETOWN: Sacramento, CA

HIGH SCHOOL: Christian Brothers High School

COLLEGE: Sac City College, University of Nevada-Reno

Entering his second season as the MoonDog Pitching Coach, Tanner Cunha will once again be one of the youngest coaches in the NWL. In his first season, the MoonDogs finished top ten in the NWL in ERA, walks allowed, XBH allowed, and first-pitch strike percentage.

Cunha, 23, is a coach now in the Northwoods League, but also has plenty of expereince as a player in the league. He pitched in ten games, including six starts for the Rochester Honkers in 2020, finishing with an 0-2 record and a 6.95 ERA while also striking out 16 batters.

Currently an Assistant Coach at Sacramento City College, where he played two seasons, Cunha works with pitchers as well as being one of the main recruiters for the program. Cunha, a native of Sacramento, finished his collegiate career at Nevada-Reno. During his time as a player at Sac City, Cunha appeared in 32 career games from 2018-19, finishing with an 8-4 record and a 4.62 ERA in 103.1 innings of work while striking out 80 batters. In the summer of 2018, he pitched in eight games for the Walla Walla Sweets of the West Coast League. After transferring to UNV-Reno, he did not appear in a game in 2020, before he wrapped up his collegiate career by logging 14 appearances for the Wolfpack in 2021.

 

Griffin McCormick – Assistant Coach

CURRENTLY: Assistant Coach at Southwest Minnesota State University

HOMETOWN: Bremerton, WA

HIGH SCHOOL: Central Kitsap HS

COLLEGE: Bellevue CC / Sacramento State

McCormick will be an Assistant Coach in the MoonDog dugout for the first time in 2023, having spent the last two seasons as an Assistant Baseball Coach at Southwest Minnesota State University.

McCormick, a 2016 graduate of Central Kitsap High School in Bremerton Washington, played two years at Bellevue Community College (WA), before moving on to play two seasons of baseball at Division I Sacramento State University, as well as an additional year where he served as the team manager.

He played in five games as a freshman at Bellevue CC in 2017, before breaking out as a star and a Division I prospect in 2018, where he slashed .346/.471/.463 with two home runs, 11 doubles, and 28 RBI. In addition, he stole 10 bases and walked 39 times to just 17 strikeouts during the 2018 season. Following the conclusion of the season, he joined the baseball team at Sacramento State.

Griffin then played for the Bellingham Bells of the West Coast League in the summer of 2018, slashing .250/.386/.417 in 13 games with a home run and seven RBI. In 2019 at Sac State, he played in 24 games, notching seven RBI and an on-base percentage of .333 in 53 plate appearances. In 2020, he played in two games in the COVID-19 shortened season for the Hornets. In 2021, he stepped away from the diamond as a player, fulfilling the team manager role at Sacramento State, helping him earn the Assistant Coach job at SMSU before the 2022 season.

Hunter Pearce – Assistant Coach

CURRENTLY: Recent baseball graduate at Bethany Lutheran College

HIGH SCHOOL: Berthoud High School

COLLEGE: Bethany Lutheran College

 

Hunter Pearce will occupy the MoonDog dugout as an assistant coach for the first time in 2023. This will be his first coaching job, after recently finishing up his playing career at Bethany Lutheran College this past year.

Pearce was a five-year letterwinner for the Vikings, primarily playing catcher, but also seeing time at second base, left field, and right field. Over his career, he played in 86 games behind the plate, four at second base, and three apiece in both right and left field.

He put up a career slashline of .285/.423/.399 for BLC, notching 80 career hits, 79 runs, 19 doubles, five triples, and one home run. He also knocked in 56 runs, stole 33 bases, and walked 61 times to just 70 career strikeouts.

He was a two-time Upper Midwest Athletic Conference first team selection, once as an honorable-mention selection, and once an academic all-conference selection. He is a native of Berthoud, Colorado and attended Berthoud High School.