By Mitch Bach

Mavericks announce coaching staff

Jan 12, 2017 | 2:41 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB — The Medicine Hat Mavericks have announced its coaching staff for the 2017 season.

Michael Thompson will join the Western Major Baseball League team as field manager for the summer campaign, while Andrew Murphy will take the assistant coaching position. Kyle Swannack returns as pitching coach for the Mavericks.

Thompson, who was drafted by the Houston Astros in 2005, has nine years of professional baseball experience and currently is an assistant coach with the Vanguard University Lions in California. Thompson played two seasons in Quebec, and said playing in Canada was the best baseball experience he had.

“They’re great fans, great people, and I’m excited to get back to Canada,” he said over the phone from Costa Mesa, California.

Thompson says he’s already looking ahead to assemble the roster, and says he wants a team that pushes each other on and off the field.

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“You’ve got to get those guys who are hungry,” he said. “They could have played a full season with their (college) team, or maybe just half a season, but (I’m looking for) the guys that are hungry to not only win ball games, but get out there and get better each and every day.”

Murphy joins the team from Henderson State University in Arkansas, where he serves as an assistant coach with the baseball program. Murphy was a four-year letter winner at Oklahoma Wesleyan University in Bartlesville, Okla, playing second base. He finished his playing career with a .366 batting average.

Swannack has been a regular presence in the Mavericks bull pen, and was the pitching coach during the team’s 2014 WMBL Championship run.

Coaching staff and players will report to Medicine Hat at the end of May for a three day mini-camp before the season begins.