Jefferson, Garcia, Parrott set to join the Stingers

Willmar, Minn. – The Willmar Stingers are excited to announce the addition of three new players to the 2015 roster. Manny Jefferson and Kiko Garcia (Pepperdine University), along with Ky Parrott (James Madison University), bring the total number of committed players to sixteen for the upcoming season of Stingers baseball, their sixth in the Northwoods League.

Jefferson, a 6-foot-3 sophomore infielder, won the starting shortstop job as a freshman last season for the Waves appearing in 56 of 61 games with a batting average of .227. Throughout the season, Jefferson amassed 10 doubles and 28 runs batted in, both of which were tied for fifth on the team.

Jefferson was named to the West Coast Conference All-Freshman team and to the conference All-Tournament team in 2014. During the conference tournament, Jefferson had three hits and a pair of RBI as the top-seeded Waves won the title and earned a trip to the NCAA National Tournament. The Waves ultimately fell to TCU in the Super Regionals, one win shy of advancing to the College World Series.

Garcia, a 6-foot freshman pitcher, is originally from St. Augustine High School in Chula Vista, CA. As a high ranking recruit from California, Garcia will have an opportunity to compete for a spot in the Waves weekend rotation as a freshman. As a prep standout, Garcia earned All-California Interscholastic Federation first team honors, All-Eastern League first team honors and pitched in the 2013 Tournament of Stars for USA Baseball. As a member of the 14U USA Baseball team, Garcia competed in the Pan-American games.

Garcia also has the distinction of being the winning pitcher of the Little League World Series championship game in 2009 when he was just 13 years old. Pitching for the West Region, Garcia threw 3 1/3 innings of no-hit relief in the title game against Chinese Taipei. Garcia proved to be an outstanding hitter as well during the tournament, going 14-21 with two doubles, two home runs, and eight RBI in six games.

Parrott, a 5-foot-8 sophomore outfielder, makes his way to Willmar based on the recommendation of former Stingers coach, and current assistant coach at James Madison, Brandon Cohen. Parrott saw limited playing time as a freshman for the Dukes, appearing in 16 games and making 14 starts.

Coming out of Herndon High School, Parrott was drafted in the 26th Round of the MLB Draft by the Milwaukee Brewers. As a senior, Ky was named to the All-Concord District first team after batting .363 with four home runs.

With the 2015 college baseball season just underway this past weekend, all three players have seen playing time to start the season. Jefferson started all three games for the Waves versus Tulane and had a double and three RBIs during the opening week. Garcia has come out of the bullpen in two games and started last night against Long Beach State. Parrott is batting .333 after going 2-6 in the opening games for James Madison.

Field Manager Drew Saberhagen, as well as the Stingers organization will continue to build the roster for the 2015 season. Season tickets for the 2015 season are currently on sale. For more information regarding this press release please contact the Willmar Stingers front office at 320-222-2010 or visit www.willmarstingers.com.

The 2015 season is presented by Marcus Construction. From start to finish Marcus Construction will make your job easier and build a facility you will be proud of.

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The Willmar Stingers are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. Playing its 22nd season of summer collegiate baseball in 2015, the Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 18 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, more than 120 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (CWS), Jordan Zimmermann (WAS), Curtis Granderson (NYM), Allen Craig (BOS) and Ben Zobrist (TB). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League Website.  For more information, visit www.willmarstingers.com.