GARY, IN. December 13th – Infielder Brian Kolb becomes the third member of the Gary SouthShore RailCats to sign on for the 2011 campaign roughly five weeks after his rights were acquired in a trade with the Evansville Otters of the Frontier League.

Kolb, 22, signed his first professional contract with the RailCats on July 7 when the ‘Cats were decimated by injuries. The Carlsbad, Calif. native appeared in five games in a RailCats uniform and tallied four hits, including a double in his first professional at-bat, before being traded to Evansville on July 19 as a few ‘Cats regulars began to come off the disabled list. In 38 games with the Otters, Kolb batted .229 with three doubles, a homer, nine RBI and eight stolen bases.

Kolb attended Wheaton (Ill.) College and finished his four-year career ranked 13th in NCAA Division III history with 270 career hits and 17th in NCAA Division III history in batting average (.450).  Kolb is Wheaton’s all-time career leader in 10 different offensive categories, including batting average, on-base percentage (.517), hits, doubles (56), runs batted in (156) and runs scored (173). His banner year was 2008, when Kolb hit a ridiculous .527 to lead all three divisions of NCAA baseball.  Kolb was a three-time All-Region honoree and a First Team All-America pick in 2008 and was named to the All-College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin team four straight seasons, taking home Player of the Year honors in 2008.

Kolb becomes the third position player signed to a 2011 contract by the RailCats, joining fellow infielder Chris Carrara and outfielder Mike Massaro. All three will be part of an at least 28-man squad when the RailCats open Spring Training on April 30 at U. S. Steel Yard.

Fan Fest 2011 is right around the corner and the RailCats will be hosting minor league baseball’s premier fan event for the third consecutive season on February 5 at the Radisson Hotel in Merrillville, Ind. For more information or to purchase tickets simply call the RailCats at 219.882.2255 or visit www.railcatsbaseball.com.