The Gateway Grizzlies announce that they have signed five players who played in the Pioneer League in 2023 to their roster for the upcoming 2024 season, inking former Boise Hawks Trevor Minder, Sean Skelly, and Matt Voelker, while also bringing in former Grand Junction Jackalopes Adam Bloebaum and Matt Golda.
An infielder who hails from Springfield, Illinois, Minder is coming off a strong season with Boise in 2023, hitting .309 with eight homers, 17 doubles, 61 RBIs, and 102 hits over 91 games. Minder also batted .281 with two homers, 20 RBIs, and 12 doubles in 63 games in 2022 with the Hawks. He finished his college baseball career at Tulane University in New Orleans after two seasons at Parkland College, hitting .244 with seven homers, 31 RBIs, and 14 doubles over 60 games as a regular for the Green Wave in 2022.
Skelly, a catcher, played for Boise behind the plate for the last three seasons. He posted solid numbers in 2023, hitting .277 with 10 homers, 12 doubles, and 42 RBIs in 54 games, marking an improvement across the board from his previous season. Skelly finished his collegiate career in his home state at Cal State Northridge, earning 2nd Team All-Big West honors in 2019 by hitting .288 with seven homers and 21 RBIs in 50 games.
Voelker joins the Grizzlies out of Granite Bay, California, and was mainly a starter with Boise last season, going 7-5 with 42 strikeouts in 81 innings over 17 appearances, 16 of which were starts. He also put up a 2.29 ERA in 14 relief appearances along with 16 strikeouts and six walks with Frederick in the MLB Draft League in 2022 after a season at Baylor University in Texas where he had a 37:17 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 43 1/3 innings over 23 games. The southpaw also pitched four years at Loyola Marymount University, and amassed 17 saves in total over the course of his collegiate career.
Bloebaum comes to Sauget as another left-handed pitcher, and as a rookie with Grand Junction had 74 strikeouts and only 25 walks in 63 innings over 16 games in 2023, nine of which were starts. He had a similar role in two seasons at the University of Washington, posting a 5.23 ERA with 34 strikeouts and 14 walks in 41 1/3 innings as a redshirt sophomore in 2022. The previous year, after transferring from the University of Pittsburgh, the 6’5” North Carolina native was the Huskies’ Sunday starter, owning a 4.15 ERA in 18 games (10 starts) with 59 strikeouts and only 16 walks over 60 2/3 innings.
Finally, Golda joins Gateway after batting .303 with a pair of homers and 27 RBIs over 50 games in 2023 with Grand Junction. The Acushnet, Massachusetts native finished his college career at UAB in 2022 after also playing one season at Oklahoma State.
Jason Guerette is the Grizzlies' Director of Broadcasting and Media Relations and the "Voice of the Grizzlies." 2023 will be his second season with the organization, handling lead broadcasting duties on the Grizzlies Media Network as well as being in charge of all team press releases and game-day media materials.
2023 will also be Jason's ninth season in the Frontier League after spending 2014-21 in the same role with the Southern Illinois Miners. Overall, he has broadcasted close to 800 games in the league, including playoffs. During the baseball offseason, he serves as a play-by-play broadcaster for Manhattan College and the New Jersey Institute of Technology, with games being seen on ESPN+ among other platforms.
In addition to broadcasting, Jason works as a public address announcer for Seton Hall University women's basketball as well as Columbia University men's and women's basketball. He also spent nine years working "behind the scenes" as a freelance board operator and highlight editor at Westwood One for their coverage of the NFL, NCAA football, and NCAA basketball.
Jason graduated from Seton Hall in 2012 with B.A. in Communication Studies and a minor in Broadcasting & Visual Media.
