The Northern Baseball Club has found their man to lead the 2010 18U Stars according to Chad Sailors, Northern Baseball Club’s director of baseball operations. Sailors named UW-Platteville’s assistant baseball coach and alum, Jason Watson, the field manager for the 18U Stars summer season, on Feb. 6.

Jason Watson

According to the UW-P Sports Information Web site, Watson was a four-year letterman at UW-P who earned all-WIAC honors in 2006 after hitting .316. He finished his career with 80 stolen bases, the second-most stolen bases in conference history. Watson earned his undergraduate degree in health promotions at UW-P and is now working on his master’s in adult education.

“Jason was our top choice during our search for the 18U field manager. He will be a great addition to the Northern Baseball Club,” said C. Sailors on the Northern Baseball Web site. “Jason is a great teacher of the game of baseball and he was a successful collegiate player. We are excited for our players to be lead by a coach with his background in the game.”

The Northern Baseball Club is located in Lafayette, Ind. and its summer season will run from the end of May into July. Watson said the club will play 40-50 games throughout the Midwest and will hopefully make it to the national qualifying tournament at the end of the season.

“All these players have intentions of playing college ball,” Watson said. “My objective this summer is to teach them more about playing ball at that higher level.”

Watson has yet to meet with any players but is in contact with C. Sailors, who is currently sending him statistics, contact information and background checks on schools to help him contact and recruit players.

Besides continuing to coach UW-P baseball through their indoor workouts, Watson has been readying himself for his first head coaching opportunity.

“I’m very excited to get experience coaching for very good baseball players,” Watson said. “I hope that I can take them to the national qualifying tournament and have colleges see players who wouldn’t otherwise have the opportunity.”

Not only is Watson eager for the opportunity to coach the 18U Stars, his former collegiate coach, Jamie Sailors, of the Northern Baseball Club is confident in Watson’s abilities.

“Jason will bring great energy to our 18U ball club. As a player he came to play every day,” Sailors said. “He played hard every day and I know he will demand that out of his players.”