PRESS RELEASE – The La Crosse Loggers and their general manager Chris Goodell swept the postseason awards announced at the Northwoods League’s fall meetings that were held recently in Rochester, Minn. Goodell was named as the Northwoods League Executive of the Year for 2012 while the La Crosse Loggers were honored as the 2012 Organization of the Year.
The La Crosse Loggers celebrated their 10-year anniversary season in a big way in 2012. Along with capturing their first ever NWL Title, they also welcomed in their 1,000,000th fan through the Copeland Park turnstiles on July 28 and drew over 100,000 fans for the eighth consecutive season. The Loggers are one of only two summer collegiate teams in America to achieve that feat and their season attendance total of 108,242 ranks second nationally, trailing only their NWL friends to the east, the Madison Mallards.
On the field the Loggers were record-setters in every way. Their 53-21 record is the second best record in NWL history and the 2012 squad broke six team offensive records and either broke or tied four more individual Logger records. The 2012 championship also capped an impressive five-year run by former Loggers field manager Andy McKay, who was recently hired by the Colorado Rockies as their Coordinator of Mental Skills. Under McKay, the Loggers won more games (210) than any other summer collegiate team in the country over the past five seasons.
This was the second time in nine years that Goodell has received the Executive of the Year award, having also captured it in 2004. Goodell has been the only general manager the Loggers have known in their ten years of existence and he just completed his thirteenth season in the NWL, having previously served as the assistant general manager of the Waterloo Bucks (1999-2001).
“With all of the great organizations in our league this is truly a great honor and one that we are very humbled by,” said Goodell. “This represents the vision and hard work of our owners, Dan and Ruth Kapanke, as well as our front office staff of Ben Kapanke and Alison Wershofen. The tireless efforts of our tremendous gameday staff, otherwise known as “The Yellow Shirts”, also makes it very enjoyable to work for the best fan base in the entire league and we are already looking forward to an even bigger and better 2013.”
The Loggers will open their eleventh season of play at a date to be determined in May, 2013. The 2013 slate of games will be released later this fall from the Northwoods League office. The Loggers business office/retail store will remain open year-round at 1225 Caledonia St., La Crosse, M-F, 8-5. Fans may also call the Loggers office at 608-796-9553 or visit http://www.lacrosseloggers.com for team and ticket information.
The Northwoods League has more teams, plays more games, and draws more fans than any other Summer Collegiate Baseball League in North America. The League has 16 teams in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Michigan, and Ontario. The Northwoods League will celebrate its’ 20th season in 2013.
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