Wisconsin Rapids, Wis.-Rafters Field Manager Chris Ebright has announced the coaches that will join him on the field to guide the team this summer.  Dr. Jay Scott (Saginaw Valley State University), Riley McDermott (Anderson University) and Joe Dominiak (Valley City State University) will team with Ebright to lead the Rafters for the 2014 season. All four coaches combined will bring a tremendous amount of managerial, coaching, and playing experience to share with the collegiate athletes putting on a Rafters uniform this summer.

“I am very excited to have these three coaches on the staff this summer,” said Chris Ebright in a statement. “All of them have great knowledge and experience that will contribute to the success of our players and organization.”

    
Dr. Jay Scott, who is currently an Assistant Coach and Professor at Saginaw Valley State University in Michigan, will begin his first season as an assistant coach for the Rafters this summer.  He began his collegiate baseball career at St. Clair County Community College and then transferred to Saginaw Valley State in 2001, where he was a teammate of field manager, Chris Ebright.  As the centerfielder and leadoff hitter for Saginaw Valley State, Jay boasted a career batting average of .394 and .511 on-base percentage, and helped lead the Cardinals to a GLIAC championship in 2001. He earned 1st Team All-GLIAC honors each season and was the 2001 Top Offensive Player for the Cardinals. He currently holds Saginaw Valley State baseball regular season records in batting average (.463), on-base percentage (.549), stolen bases (29), and is second in walks (44). After graduating from Saginaw Valley State, Jay earned a Ph.D. at Queen’s University in Ontario, Canada and completed postdoctoral fellowships at the University of New Mexico and in the Dept. of Internal Medicine at the University of Iowa. In addition to his responsibilities as an Assistant Professor in the Biology Department at Saginaw Valley State, he assists with base running and outfield coaching duties and has been involved with player recruitment for the Cardinals.

Riley McDermott begins his first season as the pitching coach for the Rafters after spending last summer as the pitching coach of the Cooperstown Hawkeyes in the PGCBL (Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League).  McDermott is a native of Davie, Florida where he attended Western High School. He went on to pitch four seasons at Anderson University in South Carolina where he tallied 65 relief appearances throughout his career. He graduated from Anderson University with a bachelor’s degree in kinesiology. While in college Riley played in the NYCBL (New York Collegiate Baseball League) for the Division Champion Elmira Pioneers.  He currently serves as an Assistant Coach at his alma mater, Anderson University, alongside head coach Joe Miller.

Joe Dominiak, currently in his first year as an assistant coach at Valley City State University (North Dakota), brings 27 years of coaching experience to the Rafters staff.  He is currently in charge of coordinating recruiting efforts and works closely with pitchers and catchers at Valley City State. Prior to joining the Valley City State coaching staff this season, Dominiak most recently worked in Bend, Oregon as Varsity Baseball Coach and Educational Assistant for the Bend Lapine School District.

Dominiak has coached at nearly every level of baseball during his career including high school, junior college, NAIA, NCAA Division I, II and III. He spent the majority of his coaching career at St. Martins University, an NCAA Division II school in Lacey, Washington where he was head coach from 1999-2008. He was also the pitching coach at St. Martins in 2011-12. During his time at St. Martin's, Dominiak helped organize the construction of a new baseball field and became the program's all-time wins leader. At St. Martin's, 12 of Dominiak's players were drafted and signed by Major League Baseball organizations. For eight straight years under Dominiak, St. Martin's was named the Academic All Conference Team by the Great Northwest Athletic Conference. In 2000, St. Martin's won the conference championship and took third in the West Coast Regionals. Dominiak helped develop numerous All-Conference players, a conference pitcher of the year and a freshman of the year. Dominiak also started a youth baseball camp at St. Martin's, growing it from 32 kids the first year to more than 400 kids in his final year. After leaving St. Martin's, Dominiak worked for a season as a Volunteer Assistant at the University of Washington, where he helped promote camps and clinics. He then spent two seasons as an assistant coach at University of Puget Sound, an NCAA Division III school. He was in charge of hitters and the team set more than 15 individual and team records during his tenure.

Dominiak is no stranger to summer baseball as he spent the past two summers as head coach of the Bend Elks Baseball Club, a collegiate wood bat team in the West Coast League. Prior to beginning his coaching career, Dominiak played collegiate baseball at Lewis and Clark State from 1979-82. He is a native of Canby, Oregon.

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The Wisconsin Rapids Rafters are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. Playing its 21st season of summer collegiate baseball, 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 115 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (DET) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (CWS), Jordan Zimmermann (WAS), Curtis Granderson (NYM), Allen Craig (STL) and Ben Zobrist (TB). All league games are viewable live and free of charge via the Northwoods League YouTube channel.  For more information, visit www.raftersbaseball.com.