Mankato, Minn. —\u00a0 After a successful 2018 campaign, the Mankato MoonDogs are looking ahead to 2019, starting with the coaching staff.\u00a0 On Tuesday, August 28, team officials named Matt Wollenzin as their new field manager, replacing Ryan Kragh, who is stepping away after six seasons with the club.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am extremely grateful to be given this opportunity,\u201d said Wollenzin. \u00a0\u201cThe timing could not be more exciting with the current momentum of this organization, all thanks to our new ownership, front office, and past players. I want to especially thank Ryan Kragh, Mike Orchard, and Kyle Mrozek for their leadership and laying the foundation for such a successful organization. The support of the Mankato community has been amazing to be a part of and I know that will only continue to grow this upcoming year and in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wollenzin, a 2013 all-star catcher for the MoonDogs out of Austin Peay, has served as the team\u2019s hitting coach for the past three seasons under Ryan Kragh, starting as an assistant coach in 2015.\u00a0 \u201cWolly\u201d, as he is known in Mankato, began his collegiate coaching career in 2016 at the University of Evansville for the Purple Aces before reuniting with Kragh at Bethany Lutheran College in Mankato for the 2018 season.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe couldn\u2019t be more thrilled to have Matt as our coach in 2019,\u201d said MoonDogs General Manager Austin Link.\u00a0 \u201cHe has been a great asset to our organization over the past four years, and we look forward to him continuing Ryan Kragh\u2019s winning tradition.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kragh came to the team in 2013 as an assistant coach under former manager Mike Orchard.\u00a0 He was named the team\u2019s manager in 2016, and led the MoonDogs to a 136-80 record with playoff appearances in all three seasons.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to thank the city of Mankato, the players, fans, host families, workers, and the front office.\u00a0 These people all hold a special place in my heart for all the work they put in to make this organization work,\u201d said Kragh. \u00a0\u201cI feel this is the right time to go and hang out with family and friends and let someone else run the team.\u00a0 I have no doubt in my mind that Matt will do a great job building a winning team that the city of Mankato can be proud of.\u00a0 I will forever be a MoonDog.\u00a0 Thank you.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Mankato, Minn. —\u00a0 After a successful 2018 campaign, the Mankato MoonDogs are looking ahead to 2019, starting with the coaching […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":6933,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[25,27,1,41],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7014","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-categories","category-announcements","category-archives","category-team-news"],"yoast_head":"\n