New Alton baseball team hires field manager

The Alton River Dragons have announced the hiring of Darrell Handelsman to fill their vacant field manager position.

Handelsman (shown) brings 20 years of summer collegiate head coaching experience with 693 career wins, two summer collegiate league championships, and named manager of the decade in both the Northwoods League and the Coastal Plain League.

The Alton River Dragons are a summer collegiate baseball team that plays in the Prospect League. The River Dragons will play their first season in 2021.

“I want to thank Steve and Jennifer (Marso) for this opportunity,” said Handelsman. “I’m looking forward to an amazing summer in Alton. I’m excited to get started working on building a competitive, hardworking team that will be fun to watch compete.”

“I have known Darrell for a long time, and we are very excited about him joining us as our field manager. We feel that he is the perfect fit and when we found out he was available, we felt like we had to talk to him, and it worked out great.” said River Dragons owner Steve Marso.

Handelsman last coached in 2016 with the Green Bay Bullfrogs in the Northwoods League, a league that he is currently second all-time in wins with 409. He has spent the past four years as the general manager of the Souris Valley Sabre Dogs of the Expedition League in Minot, N.D.

“Landing Darrell feels like winning the lottery! He has done nothing but win everywhere he has been. He will be a huge asset to our team on and off the field.” River Dragons General Manager Dallas Martz said in a statement. “His passion for the game and developing baseball players is second to none.”

The River Dragons hired Brock Moss to lead them into 2021. However, Moss accepted a full-time position at Texas A&M International last month, making him not available next summer.

Visit www.altonbaseball.com