OLD ORCHARD BEACH, ME – The Empire League announces the signing of new Old Orchard Beach Surge Manager Pascual Santiago.  Pascual has chosen to step down from his great position with the Railcats to be a Manager in the Empire League.

Pascual  previously worked with the Gary Southshore RailCats of the American Association for three seasons from 2011-2013.  He was on the staff for the RailCats’ 2013 American Association Championship.  Santiago was the pitching coach for the Joliet Slammers of the Frontier League.  His other coaching experience includes time as the pitching coach of Dominican University and serving as the bench coach of the Windy City ThunderBolts, also of the Frontier League. He has also coached college baseball at Robert Morris and Lewis University. Santiago is also the head coach of the Olive Harvey City College Panthers.  Olive Harvey is a community college on the south side of Chicago.

“I appreciate the opportunity to manage a team in the Empire league and I thank Eddie Gonzalez and his partners for that opportunity.” – Pascual Santiago

He bring a wealth of knowledge through his experience and a strong network to help players advance in levels. With that being the primary focus of the Empire League, he becomes a great fit for an Empire League organization.

“Bringing a high level baseball guy,  with his qualities and attitude meets one of our main goals of making sure that our managers are well qualified and capable of promoting players. We are happy to have Pascual as a member of the Surge stepping down from a high level league which is what everyone dreams of to come help these younger guys. That says a lot about his committment and goals.” – Eddie Gonzalez

Article by Empire League Media

OLD ORCHARD BEACH, ME – Alex Markakis, 2016 General Manager of the  Old Orchard Beach Surge, will advance  his career as a scout with the Baltimore Orioles. Markakis will stay on with the Empire League as a consultant.

The Empire League congratulates Markakis and is excited to see another individual from the League move forward in his career. He will continue to be a player reference  to help advance Empire League players.

We couldnt be happier for Alex on his career opportunity. He deserves it after all the dedication and sacrifice that he put forth during his run with the Old Orchard Beach Surge. He was a great part of the Empire League  success and will continue to be a part of the Empire League’s  family.

Article by Empire League Media

PLATTSBURGH, NY – The Empire League announced today that they will host the 2017 Empire League All Star festivities at Chip Cummings Field home to the newest franchise of the Empire League.

The Date has not been set but the league is planning to host the event around July 30th, 2017.

This event will bring the best players of the first half of the season to Plattsburgh for a  Home Run Derby competition that will begin at 1pm followed by the All Star Game at 3pm.

TAMPA, FL – After a very close race statistically the award for Empire League Rookie of the year came down to votes on specific Rookie requirements. From the best team player vote, who dressed all games of season and met the rookie requirements of 30 to 50 opportunities. Tarik El-Abour did the unthinkable and was the best hitter hitting .323 Average.

TAMPA, FL – The former Manager of the New Hampshire Wild (former franchise of the Empire Pro League), Jerry Gonzalez will be taking his knowledge and talents to the front office of the Empire League.

Gonzalez who took a lot of responsibility during the 2016 season as a Manager and Front Office  personnel, is now a partner in the Empire League and will also be  the Director of Business Operations and Player Personnel.

Gonzalez joins brother Eddie Gonzalez, Matt Joyce and Livio Forte as the Top Executives of the League. The Empire League Executives have tremendous combination of knowledge of business and baseball  which in the end will make the Empire League a much better place for players  to rise up in their careers  as well as providing entertainment and economic impacts for the communities it is a part of.