The coaching staff for the inaugural 2010 Muskrats baseball season is in place. General Manager, Noah Crane, has hired Matt Williams to be manager with Ryan Howe and Matt Alison as assistants. Matt Williams will head north to Laconia this summer after completing his fifth season as the top assistant at perennial junior college power, Spartanburg Methodist College. The SMC Pioneers have made two Junior College World Series appearances during his tenure. The 2009 Pioneers finished with a school record 55 wins and another NJCAA Top 10 finish.
Coach Williams is no stranger to Muskrats GM, Noah Crane, who coached Matt as a collegian in 2003. “Before we purchased the franchise I had already offered the job to Matt,” said Crane. “Matt is one of the best coaches I’ve ever been around and we are elated he is joining the Muskrats family this summer.” After graduating from SMC, Williams pitched one season for the Mid Missouri Mavericks of the Frontier League.
Joining Coach Williams is another Pioneer assistant, Ryan Howe. Coach Howe is in his second season under legendary coach Tim Wallace. Currently, Howe works with the outfielders and assists with recruiting at SMC but will handle the Muskrats pitching staff this summer. Howe pitched two seasons at Lake Sumter CC in Florida followed by a two-year career at East Tennessee State University. “Coach Howe’s hiring is already paying dividends as we signed two ETSU Buccaneers for this season,” said Noah Crane.
Rounding out the Muskrat staff is hitting coach, Matt Alison. Alison is the hitting coach at NAIA MidAmerica Nazarene in Olathe, Kansas. “I was searching for a knowledgeable coach with a strong background working with hitters as well as quality person; Matt is exactly what we wanted,” said GM Noah Crane. Alison enters his seventh season as an assistant on MNU staff. Additionally Alison has experience with summer collegiate baseball having coached in the prestigious Alaska Baseball League with the Athletes In Action Fire. He was also the head coach of the Bear Valley Rapids in the Boise Summer Baseball League. Alison played two seasons at Mount Vernon College in Ohio before finishing his playing career at MNU.
