Blake Nation to return as head coach of MV DiamondDawgs

Little Falls, New York – The Mohawk Valley DiamondDawgs are please to announce that Blake Nation will return for his second season as head coach of the Dawgs. In his first season at the helm Coach Nation led the Dawgs to a 26-19 finish good for 2nd place in the Eastern Division and a playoff spot.  The team advanced to the league semi-finals after defeating the Albany Dutchman and eventually lost to PGCBL Champion Amsterdam Mohawks.

DiamondDawgs owner Travis Heiser is excited to have Nation back as his skipper saying, “We had a great season last year and I was impressed how Blake was able get our guys to play hard day-in and day-out.  The Dawgs were competitive in every aspect of the game and in every game and that is attributable to the work ethic that our coach instills. Clinching a playoff spot and winning our first round match-up against the Dutchman really excited this City and our fans and made us hungrier to keep reaching towards the top and bring a championship to the Mohawk Valley. I am thrilled that Blake will be leading this team in 2015.”

Coach Nation is also very optimistic of 2015 saying, “As Travis began the recruiting process this year we spoke about the certain type of player we were looking for. Our recruiting efforts focused on players that give us speed and a solid on-base percentage. We also focused on putting a solid defense in the field and strike throwing pitchers with low walk totals and good velocity on the mound. The DiamondDawgs have succeeded in signing players with those attributes for the 2015 season. Last year we led the league with 106 stolen bases and it’s our goal to beat that total this coming season. We will have many new faces this year with a few returning members of the 2014 season coming back. These guys were big contributors to our success last year and we hope that these returning players will be examples of leadership and guidance to the new members of the team continuing the winning tradition of the Mohawk Valley DiamondDawgs. Returning players PGCBL All-Stars Colin Hawk and Lucas Godlewski will be key for us again as they both proved how valuable they are to our team. Mike Triller and Matt Pidich  will also be returning  in 2015 . Triller has had a great fall season at Clemson University as has Pidich  with University of Pittsburgh . Both are  looking to have a breakout season in 2015. Travis has  built a team that we are confident will be able to compete for a 2015 PGCBL championship.”

“I am extremely excited to return to the Mohawk Valley DiamondDawgs in 2015. The entire Mohawk Valley  and the fans were awesome last year and I am looking forward to seeing many of the same faces in the upcoming season. The Mohawk Valley in the summer is a great place to be and combined with the fan support there is no other place I would rather be. I am happy to see many sponsors returning for the upcoming season as well and excited to see some new sponsors – our sponsors and fans is what makes baseball in the Mohawk Valley possible.

The Mohawk Valley DiamondDawgs welcome back Coach Nation and look forward to 2015!   Go Dawgs!