27 Northeast League alums continue baseball careers

Published on March 23, 2004 under Canadian American League (Can-Am) News Release

Twenty-seven alums from the Northeast League have taken on positions as either scouts, college coaches, roving instructors, in television or in the front office.

From that group 12 are currently employed in the college ranks, including four head coaches. The next largest group is scouting, which is made up of eight former Northeast League members. Four have become roving instructors, including former Major Leaguers Rafael Belliard and Joe Ferguson. Among the other alums are John Cerutti, a former player for the Albany-Colonie Diamond Dogs, now a television announcer for the Toronto Blue Jays, Grant Geisser, a former front office executive for Elmira, works as an Assistant Director of Player Development for the Cincinnati Reds and Tony Tijerina, an ex-Albany-Colonie player, is the Assistant Field Coordinator for the New York Mets.

Below is the list of former Northeast League alums who have taken on other roles in baseball.

Scouting

Name NEL Club Organization Position
Russ Ardolina Waterbury/Allentown front office Texas Rangers Asst., Operations
Jason Baker Elmira player Cincinnati Reds Supervisor
John Booher Elmira coach Boston Red Sox Area Scout
Lonnie Goldberg Bangor player Atlanta Braves International Scout
Go Ikeda Adirondack player Florida Marlins International Scout
Vance Lovelace New Jersey pitcher/coach Los Angeles Dodgers Pro Scout
Charlie Sullivan Albany-Colonie manager Pittsburgh Pirates Area Scout
Andrew Tinnish Quebec player Toronto Blue Jays Coordinator

College Coaches

Name NEL Club University Position
Brian Autry Quebec player Birmingham Southern Assistant Coach
Chris Briones Berkshire player University of Nevada Assistant Coach
Bo Durkac Adirondack player University of Charlotte Assistant Coach
Mark Lavenia Albany-Colonie/Quebec player University at Albany Assistant Coach
Doug Kimbler Adirondack/Albany-Colonie player Hartwick College Head Coach
Hank Manning New Jersey player Pace University Head Coach
Luis Melendez Quebec/Waterbury/Bangor player Lehman College Assistant Coach
Jon Mueller Albany-Colonie player University at Albany Head Coach
Josh Perich Berkshire/Allentown player Lehigh University Assistant Coach
Kiko Reyes Waterbury/Elmira player Lehman College Assistant Coach
Chris Strahowski Albany-Colonie/Newburgh player Manchcester CC Head Coach
Chad Thornhill New Jersey player Fresno State University Assistant Coach

Roving Instructors

Name NEL Club Organization Position
Rafael Belliard Albany-Colonie player Atlanta Braves Field Instructor
Jon Debus Elmira manager Los Angeles Dodgers Catching Coordinator
Joe Ferguson Quebec manager San Diego Padres Catching Instructor
Dane Johnson Albany-Colonie coach Toronto Blue Jays Pitching Coordinator

Miscellaneous

Name NEL Club Organization Position
John Cerutti Albany-Colonie player Toronto Blue Jays Television Announcer
Grant Greisser Elmira front office Cincinnati Reds Asst. Dir. Player Development
Tony Tijerina Albany-Colonie player New York Mets Asst. Field Coordinator

Canadian American League Stories from March 23, 2004

• 27 Northeast League alums continue baseball careers - Can-Am

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