UNITED SHORE PROFESSIONAL BASEBALL LEAGUE NAMES MANAGERS
February 9th, 2016
Leadership brings Vast Major, Minor League Experience to Inaugural Teams, Season
ROCHESTER, Mich. – Feb. 8, 2016—The United Shore Professional Baseball League (USPBL) today announced Managers for its three inaugural teams: The Utica Unicorns, Eastside Diamond Hoppers and Birmingham Bloomfield Beavers. The USPBL managers bring more than 80 years of combined professional baseball experience to the new league.
Manager Greg Grall
Utica Unicorns
Greg Grall has been involved with Major League Baseball (MLB) and Minor League Baseball (MiLB) since 1993, bringing more than twenty years of experience as a player and coach. He has been an instrumental coach at every level along with consulting and coaching internationally for the MLB World Games from 2004 to 2006. Over the past ten years, Grall had worked primarily in AA & AAA for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Boston Red Sox, Baltimore Orioles and Cincinnati Reds. Throughout his career Grall has had the privilege of working with some of the biggest names in MLB, including: Cy Young Winner Jake Arrieta; All-Star Closer Mark Melancon; B.J. Ryan; Andrew Miller; Adam Dunn; and Corky Miller to name a few. Grall is a native of Chattanooga, TN.
Manager Chris Newell
Birmingham-Bloomfield Beavers
Chris Newell has served in professional baseball since 1997 as a player, manager and scout. After a successful college career at Northwest Missouri State University, Newell played professional baseball in 1997 and 1998, earning a Gold Glove as a second basemen for the Kalamazoo Kodiaks in the Frontier League. After retiring as a player, he began his scouting career with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, spanning from 1999 to 2005. In 2003, Newell made his professional managing debut with the Kalamazoo Kings of the Frontier League, making him the youngest manager in professional baseball that year. Since 2006, he has scouted for the New York Yankees. Through his private instruction, Newell has trained 44 players who have either been drafted professionally or signed professional contracts, including: MLB All-Star DJ LeMahieu; and 2015 Tampa Bay Rays Draftee Jacob Cronenworth. Newell is a native of Waterford, MI.
Manager Paul Noce
Eastside Diamond Hoppers
Paul Noce has been actively involved in the game of baseball for over 33 years, including two stints in the Major Leagues with the Chicago Cubs (’87) and Cincinnati Reds (’90). In 1986, Noce was selected as a Topps All-Star shortstop for his play with the AA Pittsfield Cubs, a MiLB affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. A proven winner, he was a member of the AAA World Series-winning Indianapolis Indians (a Cleveland Indians minor affiliate) in 1988 and the 1990 World Series Cincinnati Reds. After a successful career as a player, he served as a minor league instructor and manager with the Pittsburgh Pirates organization before moving on to the collegiate ranks. In 1994, he took the reins as Head Coach at Hillsdale College in Adrian, Mich. Over the next 20 years, Noce would win nearly 350 games. In 2012, he was inducted into the Peninsula Sports Hall of Fame in San Mateo, Calif. Noce is a native of San Mateo, CA.
Also named:
Throwing / Pitching Coordinator Justin Orenduff
Jeff Orenduff is the founder of the Delivery Value System (DVS) and creator of the DVS Scoring System. DVS, which stands for Delivery Value System, is the first bio-mechanically based model that is statistically proven to predict the relative risk associated with any pitcher’s delivery. The model utilizes a proprietary scoring system based on six components of a pitcher’s delivery and establishes a validity with a Cox Proportional Hazard Statistical Analysis.
In 2004, Orenduff was a first round draft pick of the Los Angeles Dodgers and, later, a member of the 2003 USA Collegiate National Team, pitching alongside MLB stars Jered Weaver and Justin Verlander. This followed a collegiate career as an All-American pitcher at both George Washington University and Virginia Commonwealth University.