SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – Slippery Rock Sliders owner and general manager Mike Bencic announced today that Slippery Rock University senior baseball players Billy Messer and Don Pugliese will serve as assistant coaches this summer for the Slippery Rock-based Prospect League wood-bat team.

Messer and Pugliese will assist Sliders manager Andy Chalot, the assistant baseball coach at West Virginia Tech.

“We are extremely happy and proud to announce that Andy, Billy and Don will lead our team this summer,” Bencic said. “They each bring youthful exuberance, yet tremendous baseball knowledge, to our program. We look forward to them leading us as we strive to win the 2010 Prospect League championship."

The Sliders will open their second season of Prospect League, summer wood-bat competition in early June and will again play their home games at Jack Critchfield Park on the campus of Slippery Rock University.

Chalot, a native of Franklin and graduate of Franklin Area High School, is in his third season as the top assistant to and pitching coach for head coach Lawrence Nesselrodt at West Virginia Tech. Prior to joining the Golden Bears staff, Chalot was head baseball coach at Alleghany High School from 2006-08 and pitching coach at Gannon University from 2002-2005. He also served as head coach of the Waynesboro Generals in the Valley League in the summer of 2009 after being the head coach of the Valley League's Covington Lumberjacks in 2007 and 2008. He compiled a 63-68 record in three seasons as a Valley League head coach, including a 45-43 record in two seasons with the Lumberjacks. He led Covington to the Valley League finals in 2008.

Messer, a native of Slippery Rock and graduate of Slippery Rock Area High School, is slated to be SRU's starting second baseman for the fourth straight season. He batted .267 last summer as the starting second baseman for the Sliders after hitting .344 for SRU. He was recently named as a second-team National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Preseason All-America third-team performer. As a junior, he earned first-team All-Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference-Western Division, second-team American Baseball Coaches Association All-Atlantic Region and honorable mention NCBWA all-region honors. A son of SRU head coach Jeff Messer, he was a second-team All-PSAC-West performer in 2008.

Pugliese is expected to be part of SRU's starting pitcher rotation this spring after missing most of the 2009 campaign and ultimately receiving a medical redshirt due to injury. A native of Pittsburgh and graduate of West Allegheny High School, he joined The Rock in 2008 after playing two seasons at NCAA Division III national power Marietta College. Pugliese earned all-league honors in the summer of 2008 as a pitcher for the Tradewater Pirates in “Kitty” League (Kentucky-Illinois-Tennessee) summer league competition.

The Sliders, a charter member of the Prospect League in 2009, will open their 2010 season in early June and will again play their home games at Jack Critchfield Park on the campus of Slippery Rock University.

For more information on the 2010 Sliders, please go to www.theslipperyrocksliders.com or call the team office at 888.458.8831.