Sky Carp announce 2023 staff

BELOIT-- The Beloit Sky Carp will be piloted by a veteran minor league manager in 2023.

Billy Gardner Jr., who possesses 24 years of minor league managing experience, has been tabbed by the Miami Marlins to lead the Sky Carp this season.

Gardner Jr. spent the 2021 season as the skipper for the Idaho Falls of the Pioneer League. Prior to his time with the Chukars, he spent four years as a AAA manager for the Washington Nationals organization.

Gardner Jr. has managed two teams to titles. He won the 1999 South Atlantic League championship with the Augusta GreenJackets, and took home the crown with the 2007 Montgomery Biscuits of the Southern League.

Gardner Jr.’s father Billy managed the Minnesota Twins from 1981-1985, and later was the interim manager for the Kansas City Royals in 1987.

Joining Gardner Jr. on the staff is pitching coach Jason Erickson, hitting coach Dan Radison and defensive coach Chris Briones. Shelby Perry will be the team’s athletic trainer, while Brandon Remalia will fill the role of strength and conditioning coach.

Erickson, 36, returns to Beloit after successfully guiding an outstanding pitching staff in 2022. This will be Erickson’s fifth season in the Marlins organization after a five-year stint with the Pittsburgh Pirates organization.

Radison, 72, is the senior member of the staff after a decorated career that includes 10 seasons as a Major League hitting coach and 25 years in the minor leagues, including seven seasons as a minor league skipper.

Briones, 49, a Point Pleasant, N.J. native, enters his fifth season with the Marlins organization as a coach, following 17 years in professional baseball as a player, scout and coach. Like Erickson, he returns to the Sky Carp after a productive 2022 season.

Perry, a graduate of SUNY-Brockport, is preparing for her second season in the Marlins organization after spending last year as a trainer for the Florida Complex League Marlins.

Remalia, a graduate of Frostburg State University, joined the Marlins organization in 2021 and spent last season working for the Jupiter Hammerheads of the Florida State League.