Glacier Range Riders Name New Manager

The Glacier Range Riders will be guided by a new manager during the 2024 season, the team announced this week. Paul Fletcher, who joined the Range Riders this season as a pitching coach, will take over for Stu Pederson, who helmed the team during its first two seasons.

“I am truly honored to join the Glacier Range Riders organization as manager and look forward to continuing to build a willing culture and team for the Flathead Valley fans,” Fletcher said in a prepared statement.

Fletcher’s “ability to inspire players, implement innovative strategies, and cultivate a winning mindset makes him an ideal fit” for the Range Riders, the team said in press release.

For more than two decades, Fletcher has been involved in baseball as a player, scout and coach. The left-handed pitcher was drafted by the Kansas City Royals in the 24th round in 1992 and played for farm team Eugene Emeralds, spent two seasons with independent Frontier and Atlantic League teams, and played for affiliates of the Chicago White Sox and Pittsburg Pirates.

He has also coached for more than a decade at the minor league and and independent league levels, served as a scout for several MLB clubs, and coached at Georgia Gwinnett College during the 2022 season.

Having experience, especially with independent leagues, will help him relate to his players and let them know he’s going to bat for them every day, Fletcher said in a video interview published with the news release.

“It’s a big experience in knowing what independent baseball’s about, and helping these guys understand the game,” Fletcher said. “I know how to win at independent ball, how to put the pitching staff together, how to run the offense, what wins.”

“I just hope we go out and play passionately and give [the fans] something really worthy to see,” he added. “In the end, we all want to hoist the trophy, and I think that’s the ultimate goal. We’d love to bring that home for them.”