712.277.WINS (9467)

 Kelly and Leif Join X’s for 2017

SIOUX CITY, IA – The Sioux City Explorers announced today that the club has signed C Dylan Kelly and C Collin Leif to 2017 American Association contracts. 

Kelly was acquired by the Explorers via a trade with the Normal CornBelters of the Frontier League where he spent the majority of his first three professional seasons. In his second professional season, Kelly got off to a hot start batting .350 and was then signed by the Arizona Diamondbacks. Kelly was assigned to the DBacks rookie league affiliate and after just 6 games he made the jump to the Triple-A Reno Aces but was never on their active roster. He was released by the DBacks out of spring training last season and returned to Normal appearing in 91 games hitting .311 with a .361 on base percentage.

Kelly started his collegiate career at Middle Georgia junior college and led the Georgia Athletic Association in batting average, ranking among the top 15 nationally with his .429 clip. Kelly transferred to the University of Missouri and in his final collegiate season in 2014 he boasted a team high .330 batting average, good for fourth best among SEC catchers. Kelly led the tigers in with 59 hits, 13 doubles, 27 RBIs, a .453 slugging percentage, and a .405 on base percentage. 

Leif will enter his first professional season in 2017 after playing collegiately at the University of Nebraska-Omaha, helping lead the Mavericks to consecutive Summit League regular season titles in his freshman and sophomore seasons. As a senior in 2016, the Bemidji, MN native batted .289 in 2016 with 28 RBIs and a .397 on base percentage. Leif lettered all four years at Bemidji High School and was named a class 3A All-State selection as a senior after batting .420 with 29 RBIs helping lead Bemidji to the class 3A state championship game at Target Field.    

In other team news, INF Brandon Alvarez will join the Explorers in spring training as a non-roster invitee. Alvarez finished his collegiate career in 2016 with the Viterbo University V-Hawks (La Crosse, WI). As a senior, Alvarez was named first team All-NSAA after leading the V-Hawks with 18 extra- base hits including 7 home runs and 38 RBIs. Alvarez finished the season with a .356 batting average, a .434 on base percentage, and a .916 fielding percentage at shortstop with 79 putouts and 128 assists.  

The Explorers home opener, which marks 25 years of professional baseball in Siouxland, is on Thursday, May 18^th versus the Sioux Falls Canaries. Individual game tickets for the home opener and all games on the 2017 schedule are on sale now. Purchase your tickets by stopping down at the Box Office at Mercy Field at Lewis & Clark Park, by calling 712-277-WINS (9467), or online at www.xsbaseball.com.