Former Coaches Return to Frontier League

While nothing has been officially announced, I have learned that former Beach Bums Manager Jon Cahill and former pitching Coach John Sexton will both be back in the Frontier League in 2009...

After spending two years together in Traverse City the tandem will seperate in 2009 and work for two different teams, both divisional rivals of the Beach Bums...Cahill will return to Wuerfel Park in the visiting clubhouse as the hitting coach for one East Division squad while John Sexton will serve as the pitching coach for another...

Cahill (Right) was the hitting coach for one season with the Beach Bums in 2006 before being elevated to the managerial post where he finished 96-96 in his two seasons...He played in the Frontier League for two seasons and began his coaching career with the Ohio Valley Redcoats in 2005...

Sexton (Left) helped the Beach Bums boast the top pitching staff in the Frontier League for the entire 2008 campaign and did the same in 2007 for a majority of the season outside of the first two months...

When it becomes official further details will be posted here...

Home Exhibition Contests

The Beach Bums announced today an exhibition doubleheader with the Midwest Sliders of Ypsilanti on May 16 at Wuerfel Park...

Both contests will be seven innings in length and are open to the public...Admission to Wuerfel Park will be $5 for one or both games...First pitch is slated for noon...The games will be the first chance to see Gregg Langbehn's team on the field before the regular season begins on May 22 in Kalamazoo...

Last season under the guidance of former pitching coach John Sexton, with former manager Jon Cahill attending his Hall of Fame induction at UMASS-Lowell, the Beach Bums traveled to Gary, Indiana to play a pair of contests at US Steel Yard, the home of the Northern League's Gary SouthShore Railcats...The Beach Bums finished 1-1 in their 2008 exhibition slate, falling to Northern League Champion Gary, led by the Frontier League's all-time managerial wins leader Greg Tagert, by a 6-4 count, rallying after allowing the champs four first inning runs...

The Beach Bums won the nightcap, topping Frontier League champion Windy City 3-2 after falling behind early again with two first inning runs to the ThunderBolts...

More Info

Beach Bums Add Catcher

The Beach Bums have acquired catcher Andrew Barbaro to complete a 2008 deal with the Sioux Falls Canaries of the American Association...

Barbaro played in 30 games for Sioux Falls as the backup catcher and hit .258 with seven doubles, a homer, and eight RBI...He posted two three-hit games including his first professional contest against St. Paul on May 16...The Canaries won the first half title in the American Association North Division and captured the American Association crown by besting the expansion Grand Prairie Airhogs and former Beach Bums outfielder Aaron Garza in a best-of-five series 3-1...Barbaro holds Rookie-2 status in the Frontier League...

While Barbaro has never been in a Beach Bums uniform he has experience at Wuerfel Park...Barbaro attended the Beach Bums open tryout prior to the 2007 season but was not signed...The 2007 tryout is where the Beach Bums inked Brett Bostelman, who is entering his third season with the team in 2009...

Traverse City used Matt Imwalle and Damon Lessler on the 2008 roster from the Canaries, and also dealt a veteran shortstop who had signed with the team in the offseason but did not play in the Frontier League...

More Info