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Glacier Range Riders Announce First Signings of 2025 Season

The Glacier Range Riders start their season May 20 at home against the Great Falls Voyagers

By Mike Kordenbrock
Glacier Bank Park, home of the Glacier Range Riders, on June 14, 2022. Hunter D’Antuono | Flathead Beacon

The Glacier Range Riders have started to build out their roster for the 2025 season, beginning last week with resigning three players from last year’s team, and the organization expects to announce more signings in the coming weeks.

The first trio of signees, announced in a press release Tuesday, is made up of infielder Gabe Howell, catcher Antonio Barranca and pitcher Jared Engman.

Howell has now been with the team since its inaugural season and, according to the Range Riders, he’s the team record holder for most runs scored and most hits. Last year he batted .322, and finished with 88 hits, nine home runs, 47 RBIs and 16 stolen bases. Some of his highlights last season include a grand slam during the team’s July 5 fireworks game, and a two-run home run in the first game of the Pioneer Baseball League Championship Series.

Originally from Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia, Howell was selected by the Atlanta Braves in round 20 of the 2016 MLB draft and spent about a year in the team’s farm system, including a rookie season shortened after he broke his thumb.

Prior to his stint with the Range Riders, Howell had played for Bryan College, George Gwinnett College, the Lexington Legends and the Savannah Bananas, a semi-pro team that has made headlines for its “Banana Ball” exhibition games which feature a number of unconventional rules and other entertainment antics.

As for Barranca and Engman, both players spent only part of the season on the Range Riders last year, but their brief stints showed promise. Barranca, who has also played in the Braves minor league system, played in both the Atlantic League for the Lancaster Stormers and in the American Association for the Chicago Dogs last summer before signing with the Range Riders. Over the course of 17 games and 55 at bats with the Range Riders, he accumulated five doubles, two home runs and five RBIs and batted .218.

Engman started seven games for the Range Riders last year after signing around mid-summer. He pitched 28.1 innings and went 1-2, with a 4.45 ERA, while averaging 5.4 strikeouts a game and giving up a total of 30 hits and 10 walks. Engman pitched for three years at the University of Washington, where he finished his senior year with a 5.82 ERA, 44 strikeouts and 28 walks across 60.1 innings of work and 13 starts. Originally from Kent, Washington, Engman previously played at Tacoma Community College.

The Range Riders will also head into the 2025 season with a new head coach. In mid-November, the organization announced it had hired 14-year MLB vet Todd Pratt to lead the team. Pratt replaces Paul Fletcher, who in 2024 led the team to a 48-48 record and to its first Pioneer League Championship Series and has since departed the team to coach the Atlantic League’s Lexington Legends in 2025.

According to a Range Riders press release announcing his hiring, Pratt’s pro career as a catcher started in the 1985 MLB draft when he was taken in the sixth round by the Boston Red Sox. Over the ensuing years he played for the Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago Cubs, New York Mets and Atlanta Braves. Pratt’s time with the Mets included a walk-off homer to win the 1999 National League Division Series. His coaching experience includes roles with West Georgia Technical College, the Sunbelt League, and High-A and Single-A affiliates with the Miami Marlins.

Joining Pratt on the coach staff this year is his former Mets teammate Glendon Rusch, who has signed with the team as a pitching coach. Rusch, a lefty, pitched for the Kansas City Royals, New York Mets, Milwaukee Brewers, Chicago Cubs and the Colorado Rockies and finished his 12-year MLB career with 1,088 strikeouts and 67 wins. His coaching experience includes work for the Lake Elsinore Storm, which are part of the San Diego Padres organization, and the Indiana University Southeast Grenadiers.

The Range Riders start their season hosting the Great Falls Voyagers for a six-game home series starting May 20.

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