SCHAUMBURG, Ill. — Both backstops from the 2013 Frontier League Championship season in Michael Valadez and Ty Nelson, along with newcomer Cody Coffman agreed to terms with the Schaumburg Boomers, 2013 Manager of the Year Jamie Bennett announced today.

Valadez, 27, enters his third season with the Boomers after having his best season offensively as a pro during the 2013 Championship run. Known for his defensive prowess, the California native earned the starting spot behind the plate for the West Division All-Stars and finished the season with a .286 average in 66 games behind the plate for the Boomers with nine doubles and 25 RBI. The seven-year professional threw out 24 out of 61 (28.2%) would-be base stealers, good for second-best in the  league.

Nelson, 25, served as the understudy to Valadez the past two seasons and performed well in a part-time role over the course of 91 professional games with the Boomers. With 11 appearances in the outfield to go along with backup catching duties, Nelson owns a .231/.328/.290 slash line with 31 runs scored, nine doubles and three triples.

Coffman, 24, joins Schaumburg after spending last season with the Taos Blizzard of the Pecos League where he posted a slash line of .315/.381/.515 with eight doubles, six homers and 34 RBI in 38 games. A star at Division II Tusculum College, the Merrillville, Ind. native was named to the 2012 Daktronics Baseball All-America First Team. In two years as a member of the Pioneers, Coffman batted .391 in 105 games with 28 doubles, 12 homers, 97 RBI and an impressive 65 walks against just 39 strikeouts.

With the additions of Valadez, Nelson and Coffman, the Boomers officially have 17 players signed to contracts for the 2014 season. The latest additions will join outfielders Alexi Colon, Bobby Martin, Jordan Owen and Justin Vasquez; pitchers James Bierlein, Preston Hatcher, Clark Labitan, Matt Lamothe, Dexter Price, Erik Shannahan, Anthony Smith and Seth Webster; and infielders Jordan Dean and Ryan Normoyle on what will be a maximum 34-man roster when Spring Training begins in late-April at Boomers Stadium in Schaumburg.

Opening Day 2014 is set for Friday, May 23 when the Boomers will square off with the Florence Freedom at 6:30 p.m. complete with post-game fireworks presented by COUNTRY Financial. Group Outings, Season Tickets and Ticket Packages are available now by calling 847.461.3695 and for more information on the fun and excitement of Schaumburg Boomers Baseball, log on to www.boomersbaseball.com.

COMPLETE PLAYER BIOS

C MICHAEL VALADEZ

Valadez, 27, enters his third season with the Boomers after having his best season offensively as a pro during the 2013 Championship run. Known for his defensive prowess, the California native earned the starting spot behind the plate for the West Division All-Stars and finished the season with a .286 average in 66 games behind the plate for the Boomers with nine doubles and 25 RBI. The seven-year professional threw out 24 out of 61 (28.2%) would-be base stealers, good for second-best in the Frontier League.

In 2012, Valadez was a mainstay behind the plate catching 75% of the games (72 out of 96) for Manager Jamie Bennett. Valadez led the Frontier League catchers in assists with 69, 25 of which came from cutting down would-be base stealers. The Boomers backstop threw out an impressive 36.2% (25 out of 69) of runners attempting to steal against him during his first season as a member of the Boomers. At the plate, Valadez bounced back from a tough year in 2011 with the Gary SouthShore RailCats to post a solid .254 batting average with 65 hits in 256 at-bats. The 6-foot-1 catcher also tallied 29 runs scored and collected 11 doubles, a homer and 28 runs batted in.

Valadez joined the independent ranks in 2010 after signing with the Tucson Toros of the Golden League and joined the RailCats after a midseason trade. Valadez got off to a slow start with the RailCats but found his rhythm during a red-hot month of August, which saw him post a sparkling .341 batting average in 16 games. Valadez was even more efficient in games at U. S. Steel Yard in 2010, batting .400 in 12 games with an outstanding .471 on-base percentage and a .500 slugging percentage. Valadez struggled at the plate in 2011 but still appeared in 93 games, which demonstrated his value as a defender as he helped the club earn a 67-52 overall record in games that he participated.

Originally selected in the 26th Round of the 2007 Major League Entry Draft by the Cleveland Indians, Valadez was the first member of the Boomers to have been previously drafted by a Major League Baseball organization. Valadez hit .240 in 27 games for the Indians New York-Penn League affiliate in 2007, and split time between Mahoning Valley and Lake County (South Atlantic League) from 2007-09.  Valadez put up the best power numbers of his career in 2009, cracking four home runs and piling up 24 RBI in 52 games at Lake County (A).

In three seasons with the Indians organization, the highly skilled defensive catcher brought with him a right arm that cut down more than a third of the runners trying to steal against him in three affiliated seasons and he threw out 54-of-135 (40.0%) runners from 2008-09.

Valadez attended NAIA Lee (Tenn.) University where he helped the Flames to the NAIA World Series as a senior. Valadez makes his offseason home in Los Angeles, Calif. 

C TY NELSON

Catcher Ty Nelson originally signed with the Boomers on May 7, 2012.

Nelson, 25, has performed well in a part-time role over the course of 91 professional games and the last two seasons with the Boomers. With 11 appearances in the outfield to go along with backup catching duties, Nelson owns a .231/.328/.290 slash line with 31 runs scored, nine doubles and three triples.

Nelson arrived in Schaumburg as a rookie following a pair of solid seasons at the University of Tennessee-Martin. Nelson batted .345 as a junior in 2009. Nelson improved for his senior campaign, ranking among the national leaders with a .395 batting average, earning Second Team All-Conference honors in the Ohio Valley Conference. Nelson led the team in average while also posting 20 doubles, four triples, and 19 stolen bases to go with eight homers and 45 RBIs.

C/INF CODY COFFMAN

Free agent Cody Coffman signed with the Boomers on February 12, 2014.

Coffman, 24, joins Schaumburg after spending last season with the Taos Blizzard of the Pecos League where he posted a slash line of .315/.381/.515 with eight doubles, six homers and 34 RBI in 38 games. In 2012, Coffman appeared in games for four teams including the Southern Illinois Miners and Gary SouthShore RailCats after graduating.

The Merrillville, Ind. native played collegiately at Jefferson State Community College in Birmingham, Ala. and finished at Tusculum College, an NCAA Division II school in Greeneville, Tenn. Over two seasons at Jefferson State, Coffman appeared in 104 games with 84 runs scored, 120 hits, 33 doubles, 16 home runs, 78 runs batted in and a .349 batting average.

The 6-foot-1 infielder only improved on those numbers at Tusculum. Coffman batted .391 in 105 games as a member of the Pioneers baseball team with 28 doubles, 12 homers, 97 RBI and a truly impressive 65 walks against just 39 strikeouts. His outstanding senior campaign earned Coffman First Team honors on the 2012 Daktronics Baseball All-America Team.