Chicago, Ill. – June 2, 2020 – After announcing the addition of a new team for the 2020 season last week, the Midwest Collegiate League has revealed the name and manager for the additional club.

The MCL made a last-minute adaptation when COVID-19 caused the relocation of all games to Northwest Indiana, leading the Bloomington Bobcats to decide to take a one-year hiatus from the league due to the travel burden. That led to the creation of a temporary, league-operated team to fill the void for this summer.

The team will be known as the MCL Minutemen, a name fitting based on both the last-minute nature of the team’s addition to the league and the fact that the club will only be around for – figuratively speaking – a minute.

“We’re thrilled to add the Minutemen to the Midwest Collegiate League for this season,” Commissioner Don Popravak said. “During such unprecedented times, we’re embracing the new challenge of putting together a temporary team on a moment’s notice. The Minutemen organization will create opportunities for numerous ballplayers to play close to home this summer, providing a valuable resource to those players whose spring and summer seasons have been cut short or cancelled due to COVID-19.”

The MCL has announced the hiring of Jack Murphy to manage the Minutemen. Murphy, who graduated from Wright State University with a bachelor’s degree in business management in 2014, has coaching experience at numerous levels including NCAA Division-I, NCAA Division-II, NAIA and JUCO.

“We’re looking forward to getting the team together and taking the opportunity to get everybody back in shape,” Murphy said. “I plan to let the players gain experience, have some fun and develop throughout the summer. I want to win every game, but I plan to make sure everybody receives a good amount of playing time. We’re not going to have any position players on the bench two games in a row. I’ll spend the first eight to 10 games getting to know each players’ swing and approach, then we’ll begin working on what we can refine.”

Murphy began his collegiate playing career at Robert Morris University, where he was the junior varsity team MVP in 2010 before earning Defensive Player of the Year honors for the varsity squad in 2011. He transferred to the Division-I level at Wright State University, where he became an all-conference third baseman in the Horizon League. He was also a 2014 Raider Award Winner.

Murphy went on to be selected in the second round (14th overall) of the 2016 Frontier League Open Tryouts by the Schaumberg Boomers. During his college days, he played four years of summer ball for four different teams and was a two-time all-star. He spent the 2012 summer playing for the Crestwood Panthers, now a member of the MCL.

Murphy began his coaching career as the head coach of the Futures League’s Sanford Snappers in Sanford, Fla. in 2014 before a stint as an assistant coach at Trinity Baptist College in Jacksonville from October 2014 to May 2015. After a brief tenure as an assistant coach at his alma mater of Oak Forest High School in Oak Forest, Ill., Murphy spent a year as an assistant coach at Hillsdale College in Hillsdale, Mich.

The well-traveled coach’s next stop came as the Director of Player Development at Eastern Illinois University beginning in August 2018. When former EIU assistant coach and recruiting coordinator Julio Godinez was named the head coach at Lakeland College prior to the 2019-2020 season, Murphy followed him as an assistant coach and hitting instructor.

“I’ve been at nearly every level of baseball and learned something from each one of them,” Murphy said. “Each job has led me to a new opportunity. I’m excited to take that experience and impart it on the Minutemen players this summer.”

With approximately half of the roster already in place, Popravak and Murphy will continue to put together the Minutemen roster in the coming days. Collegiate ballplayers interested in playing for the team are encouraged to fill out a player application on midwestcollegiateleague.com.

“A candidate of Jack’s caliber made it easy to make a quick hire in our search for the manager of the Minutemen,” Popravak said. “His experience at all levels of collegiate baseball and learning from so many different coaching mentors will serve him well as he guides the MCL’s newest club. We’re thrilled to see what Jack and the Minutemen can accomplish this summer.”