'Dubanoski announces staff for 2021 season'

MITCHELL, S.D. – With the 2021 baseball season quickly approaching, head baseball coach Charlie Dubanoski announced his staff Monday morning.

 Beginning his first season as the assistant baseball coach is Ben Johnson. The Brooklyn Park, Minn., native will be the assistant baseball coach after serving as an assistant and pitching coach for the Winona State University baseball squad for the past four years.

 His responsibilities for the Warriors included game management, recruiting, organization of practices and camps and field maintenance. Johnson also received his Master of Science in Leadership Education with an emphasis in sports management from Winona State in 2019.

 "First, I want to thank Jon (Hart) and Charlie for the opportunity to come coach at Dakota Wesleyan," Johnson said. "I am looking forward to working with Charlie and the student-athletes at DWU."

 Johnson also played collegiate baseball at NCAA Division III institution Saint Mary's University of Winona where he was an All-MIAC First Team honoree in 2014 and a MIAC All-Defensive Team selection in 2015. In his career Johnson pitched 164.2 innings, struck out 85 batters, finished with a 5.47 ERA and tallied a record of 13-9 on the mound.

 "I am really excited to have Ben join the staff," Dubanoski mentioned of his newest assistant coach. "His knowledge and passion for teaching the game of baseball will be a huge value to our student-athletes. He brings a hard-working and competitive attitude that we are looking for in our Tiger baseball program."

 Josh Rustad will be returning as an assistant coach after serving as the Tigers' graduate assistant for the past two seasons. Prior to joining the Tigers, the Polson, Mont., native coached at Dawson Community College and Lake Region State College as a pitching coach.

 He played college baseball at Dawson Community College. At Dawson, Rustad ranked in the top five in school history in wins, ERA and strikeouts. He threw the school's first no-hitter and was named Freshman of the Year.

 Finishing out his senior season as a student-assistant coach is Chandler Bakley. He was a member of the DWU baseball team the previous four seasons and was named All-GPAC Honorable Mention after his junior campaign.

 The Martin, S.D., native completed his career with 94 hits, 60 RBIs, a .305 batting average and a .976 fielding percentage with 392 putouts.

 "Josh and Chandler have already been invaluable to the program in helping with the head coaching transition," Dubanoski said. "Our ballplayers love and respect them both and they will continue to add great value to the Dakota Wesleyan baseball team."