With Morgan Burkhart in place as the Windy City ThunderBolts' field manager, the team has begun putting together their coaching staff for the 2012 season. The ThunderBolts have announced that Bobby Post will join the staff as pitching coach.
Post comes to Windy City from the Calgary Vipers, where he spent last season in the same position under Burkhart. Under Post, the 2011 Vipers finished second in the ten-team North American Baseball League with a 5.07 ERA. They led the league with five team shutouts.
ThunderBolts Field Manager Morgan Burkhart is excited to bring back a familiar face to his new club in 2012, "I was very happy with the way Bobby and I worked together last year and I think the players can feed off that." Burkhart continued, "I'm very happy to have him for another year as we compliment each other very well to reach our common goal of winning baseball games."
Post spent the 2009 and 2010 seasons with the Sioux City Explorers of the American Association. In 2010, the Explorers had the third best pitching staff in the league, posting a 4.67 ERA.
His three years as a pitching coach in pro ball are complemented by an extensive collegiate coaching resume. He spent three seasons as pitching coach at Barstow Community College in Barstow, California and has spent the past four seasons in the same post on the Briar Cliff University staff in Sioux City, Iowa.
The Victorville, California native had a five-year playing career in the United States, all in the independent Northern League, from 1995-1999. Between two seasons with the Sioux Falls Canaries and three with Sioux City, Post went 35-19 with a 4.85 ERA. He finished his playing career in Taiwan.
Post will try to help turn around a ThunderBolts pitching staff that finished eighth in the Frontier League in 2011 with a 4.34 ERA. Windy City has a strong recent tradition for moving pitchers to the next level, having 13 of them signed by big league organizations in the last three years.
