PL Missoula PaddleHeads

PaddleHeads Announce 2022 Opening Day Roster Ahead of Home Opener

Published on May 24, 2022 under Pioneer League (PL)
Missoula PaddleHeads News Release


Missoula, MT - The Missoula PaddleHeads Professional Baseball Club is just hours away from opening up the regular season that begins Wednesday night against the rival Billings Mustangs. After completing numerous workouts, and playing in 4 exhibition games, Missoula is also ready to introduce the players that will look to keep the PaddleHeads atop the Pioneer League.

The 2022 Opening Day roster for the PaddleHeads does feature numerous fan favorites from a season ago as 8 players from the 2021 Pioneer League Championship team will make their return in 2022. Players that were driving forces to the offensive attack like infielder Nick Gatewood, and outfielder Jared Akins are back in the fold for the 2022 season. Pitcher Dan Swain will also make his return to Missoula after last appearing in the Garden City back in 2019 as a member of the Osprey. This core paints part of the picture of what looks to be a promising roster, but the returners only tell part of the story.

2021 Pioneer League Manager of the Year Michael Schlact is back for his second season at the helm in Missoula for the 2022 season. The longtime Rangers farmhand is excited about the talent that the 2022 PaddleHeads will bring to the field. He sees this roster as one that features players that can excel in multiple different roles.

"We are excited about the roster this season, we have a lot of versatility, ‚¬Â Schlact said. "A lot of different players can fill a lot of different roles. We feel there is an element of surprise with our roster. The versatility of our players allows us to think outside of the box. This will allow us to mix, and match things with our lineup, defensive alignment, and pitching staff well. This should allow us to win some ball games. ‚¬Â

Along with Swain, Domingo Pena, and Davis Delorefice will once again toe the rubber in Missoula on the 2022 opening day roster. They will be joined by 11 newly acquired pitchers that will be looking to make their mark on the Pioneer League in the PaddleHeads pursuit of a second consecutive title. This list of players is highlighted by talented prospects that have previously been in affiliated baseball.

Left-hander Austin Crowson seems poised to contribute on the PaddleHeads staff after being drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies in the 2019 June Amature Draft. The Oregon native would perform well with the Gulf Coast League Phillies accumulating a 2.82 ERA in 13 appearances in 2019. Crowson was also an All-Conference selection in his senior season at Western Oregon University in 2019 when he finished 4-1 with a 3.66 ERA in 8 starts with the Wolves.

Former Cincinnati Reds product Sam Hellinger also bolsters Missoula's arsenal of pitching options after making 49 appearances in the Reds system from 2019-2021. The West Seattle High School product would finish with a 4.29 ERA and 111 strikeouts in 83 innings of action in relief appearances. The former Gonzaga Bulldog also had a 1.62 ERA last season with the Dayton Tortugas of the Low-A Southeast.

Behind the plate, a pair of players with professional experience will provide leadership for the PaddleHeads staff. Former Ogden Raptor Niko Pacheco will play in his second season in the Pioneer League after playing in 55 games with Ogden a season ago. The Loyola Marymount product finished with a .304 batting average in 138 at-bats. Pacheco also reunites with new PaddleHeads hitting coach, and former Raptor coach Jeff Lyle.

Joining Pacheco is Henderson Perez, a 22-year old prospect from Venezuela. Perez first appeared in professional baseball at the age of 17 in 2016 with the Chicago Cubs organization. Perez would remain in the Cubs system until 2019 making appearances in 164 career games over that period. Last season, Perez would make the transition to the Pioneer League playing with the Grand Junction Rockies in a brief 11 game stint.

The outfield will be patrolled by a pair of new outfielders with affiliated experience as Keaton Greenwalt, and Lamar Sparks have both been added into the fold joining returners Brandon Riley, and Jared Akins. Greenwalt was drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies organization in 2019 and went on to appear in 108 games in their system from 2019-2021. Greenwalt was most recently with the Jersey Shore Blue Claws in the Phillies system in 2021. Sparks spent time with the Baltimore Orioles from 2017-2021 playing in 150 games. The Texas native hit .256 in 45 games a season ago with the Delmarva Shorebirds.

Utility infielder Anders Green will look to contribute at numerous positions with Missoula in his first season in professional baseball. Green held a .343 batting average in the 2019-2020 seasons with William Jessup University in 78 career games. The Oregon native was also named an All-Conference selection with the Warriors in 2019 finishing with a .339 average that season to go along with 40 runs and 56 RBIs in 49 games.

The PaddleHeads host the Billings Mustangs on Wednesday evening to open the 2022 Pioneer League season. The Mustangs will also be in town on Thursday, and Friday to close out the opening homestand of the season. Thirsty Thursday will feature $3 domestic, and $4 draft beer to keep the night going. Then to close out the series Friday, the PaddleHeads will hold their first Fireworks Celebration of the season. First pitch of all three games of the series is slated for 7:05 p.m. To get your tickets or to learn more about the fun happening at the ballpark through the summer, visit gopaddleheads.com.

MISSOULA PADDLEHEADS

2022 SPRING ROSTER

# PITCHERS (13) B/T HT WT DOB (AGE) COLLEGE HOMETOWN LAST CLUB

33 Alexander, Nathan R/R 6-4 205 06/07/96 (25) Texas-S.A. Lake Jackson, TX NY Boulders (Frontier)

19 Crowson, Austin B/L 6-5 210 09/06/96 (25) Western Oregon Monroe, OR Phillies (Gulf Coast)

15 Delorefice, Davis R/R 6-1 185 03/06/98 (23) Washington Fairfield, CA Missoula PaddleHeads

38 Hellinger, Sam R/R 6-1 195 09/06/94 (27) Gonzaga Seattle, WA Daytona Tortugas (Reds)

27 LaRossa, John L/R 6-1 205 02/24/95 (26) Univ Hartford North Massaqequa, NY Tri-City ValleyCats (FL)

17 Longrie, Quentin R/L 5-11 205 09/21/96 (25) USC Mission Viejo, CA University of Southern Cal

23 Monsion, Rafael* L/L 6-3 185 08/16/99 (22) N/A Gyayana, VZ Dunedin Blue Jays (Blue Jays)

31 Munsch, Jason L/L 6-2 230 05/12/99 (22) Concordia Campbell, CA Carolina Mudcats (Brewers)

12 Nealy, Colby R/R 6-5 185 03/18/96 (25) WA State Bothell, WA East Side Diam. Hoppers (USBL)

48 Pena, Domingo R/R 6-2 180 04/07/98 (23) N/A Tenares, DOM REP Missoula PaddleHeads

32 Smith, Zachary R/R 6-2 200 08/13/98 (23) S. Arkansas Katy, TX Lancaster Barnstormers (AL)

41 Swain, Dan R/R 5-11 200 09/30/94 (27) Siena College Newton, MA Missoula Osprey (Dbacks)

28 Thompson, Cody R/R 6-3 200 05/28/96 (25) Randolph-Macon Mechanicsville, VA Gateway Grizzlies (Frontier)

# CATCHERS (2) B/T HT WT DOB (AGE) COLLEGE HOMETOWN LAST CLUB

7 Pacheco, Niko R/R 6-1 205 04/18/95 (26) Cal St Fullerton Fresno, CA Ogden Raptors

37 Perez, Henderson R/R 5-11 160 06/10/99 (22) N/A Libertador, VZ Grand Junction Rockies

# INFIELDERS (6) B/T HT WT DOB (AGE) COLLEGE HOMETOWN LAST CLUB

4 Gatewood, Nick (1B/C) L/R 6-1 205 07/17/97 (24) Georgia St. Duluth, GA Missoula PaddleHeads

11 Green, Anders B/R 6-2 195 11/24/96 (24) William Jessup Silverton, OR William Jessup Univ.

55 Newman, Jayson R/R 6-4 280 08/20/97 (24) Cal St Northridge Northridge, CA Missoula PaddleHeads

30 O'Connor, McClain R/R 5-10 165 07/05/98 (23) UC Santa Barbara Pioche, NV Missoula PaddleHeads

22 Thompson, Cameron L/R 5-11 190 10/14/97 (24) Kansas State Pasadena, TX Missoula PaddleHeads

1 Whatley, Kevin L/R 6-0 185 05/05/95 (26) Wright St. Port Orchard, WA South. MD Blue Crabs (AL)

# OUTFIELDERS (4) B/T HT WT DOB (AGE) COLLEGE HOMETOWN LAST CLUB

8 Akins, Jared L/R 6-3 220 11/12/96 (24) Cal St Fresno Altadena, CA Missoula PaddleHeads

16 Greenwalt, Keaton R/R 6-3 175 11/23/97 (24) Lubbock Christian Clovis, NM Jersey Shore BlueClaws (Phillies)

6 Riley, Brandon L/R 6-0 170 11/13/96 (24) UNC Burlington, NC Missoula PaddleHeads

9 Sparks, Lamar R/R 6-2 170 09/26/98 (23) N/A Katy, TX Aberdeen IronBirds (Orioles)

# INACTIVE LIST (1) B/T HT WT DOB (AGE) COLLEGE HOMETOWN LAST CLUB

3 Hanna II, Ellison* B/L 6-2 225 09/26/98 (23) Indiana State Nassau, Bahamas Cape Catfish (Prospect)

MANAGER 14 Schlact, Michael (52)

HITTING COACH 21 Lyle, Jeff

ASSISTANT COACH

SPECIAL ASSISTANT COACH

ATHLETIC TRAINER

25 Whithorn, Ryan (46)

29 Pryzbilla, Mason

McCarthy, Luke

CLUBHOUSE MANAGER Gould, Kevin

Check out the Missoula PaddleHeads Statistics

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