Two starting outfielders on last season’s Falls varsity baseball team plan to continue their careers in college playing at Scheela Field.
Michael Misner and Dominic Casareto formally signed letters of intent Monday to attend Rainy River Community College.
RRCC head baseball coach Josh Koenig said Misner and Casareto are the first two incoming freshmen who have committed to play baseball next season for the Voyageurs.
Casareto, whose older brother, Jake, completed his sophomore season as a starting infielder at the College of St. Scholastica in Duluth, said he decided to attend RRCC because he wants to “stick around in the Falls,” get an associate’s degree and then look at going to a larger school in two years.
He said he would be interested in playing either in the outfield or infield the next two years, depending on where Koenig would need him.
At this point, Casareto said he is looking into pursuing a degree in either physical education or business.
Misner said he is also flexible as to the position he’d be interested in playing for the Voyageurs.
“I’m looking to play wherever (the) coach needs me,” he said. “I’ve played infield, outfield, I’ve caught, so I can pretty much play any position.”
Like Casareto, Misner said he also is interested in playing college baseball locally.
As for a particular field of study, Misner said he hasn’t decided upon one at this point.
Koenig said he is excited to receive commitments from Casareto and Misner, whom he had an opportunity to coach as an assistant with the Broncos before taking over RRCC’s head coaching position in 2010.
“I’m just really excited to have the opportunity to have local kids in the community who can come in and make a positive impact on our program,” he said.
Given the Voyageurs will be losing more than 10 players who completed their sophomore seasons in 2011, Koenig said there will be “a lot of opportunity for (Casareto and Misner) to get on the field right away and have a lot of success.”
“In some other programs, they might not have that same opportunity,” he said.
Koenig said filling out RRCC’s roster for next season is presently “a work in progress.”
“We’ll probably have some kids from the Chicago area, we’ll have some kids from Arizona, we’re trying to work to get some kids hopefully from Canada and then trying to work on a few more kids from Minnesota as well,” he said. “Anytime you can get the local kids to kind of stay back and be part of the community college atmosphere, it really adds to that because it brings in more fans to the games and more of a local flavor and interest.”
As for players who will be returning next spring as sophomores, Koenig said he has received commitments from four: Chris Verdugo, a right-handed pitcher/first baseman from Tucson, Ariz.; Brett Orpin, an outfielder from Dauphin, Manitoba; Colin Barton, a right-handed pitcher from Fort Frances, Ontario; and Tony Zelazny, a right-handed pitcher/outfielder from Anchorage, Alaska.
