River Bandits Announce 2023 Coaching Staff

Davenport, Iowa — The Quad Cities River Bandits, in conjunction with the Kansas City Royals, today announced their 2023 coaching staff, led by manager Brooks Conrad who returns to Modern Woodmen Park for his second season at the helm. Joining Conrad in Davenport are pitching coach Derrick Lewis, hitting coach Ryan Powers, bench coach David Noworyta, strength and conditioning coach Joe Pedulla, and athletic trainer Brad Groleau. Matt Resar returns for his third season as the team’s coordinator of clubhouse operations.

Conrad, the 39th manager in the Quad Cities' Midwest League history, enters his seventh season, sixth managerial, in the Royals organization after leading the River Bandits in 2022. During that year, Conrad became the first minor league manager to win a game at Field of Dreams, as Quad Cities, rebranded as the Davenport Blue Sox, beat the Cedar Rapids Bunnies 7-2 on Aug. 9 in the first ever MiLB at Field of Dreams Game.

Prior to his coaching career, which also includes stints as manager in Burlington (2018, Rookie), Lexington (2019, Low-A), and Columbia (2021, Single-A), the 42-year-old played parts of six seasons in the Majors with Oakland (2008), Atlanta (2009-11), Milwaukee (2012), Tampa Bay (2012), and San Diego (2014). He was selected in the eighth round of the 2001 Draft by Houston, where he played seven seasons in the minors before making his Major League debut with the A’s. The infielder also played a season in Japan with the Hanshin Tigers in 2013 and with the Mets’ Triple-A affiliate in 2015.

Lewis enters his first season in Quad Cities and his fourth with the Royals organization after serving the past two seasons as pitching coach at Northwest Arkansas (Double-A). Before beginning his tenure with the Royals, the Montgomery, Alabama native spent 16 seasons in the Atlanta Braves organization, including the last two as pitching coordinator. Lewis played seven seasons in the Braves minor league system from 1997-2003 after being selected in the 20th round of the 1997 Draft.

Powers, who served as a Royals video intern in Quad Cities in 2021, returns to the River Bandits in a new role after serving as assistant hitting coach with Omaha (Triple-A) in 2022. Entering his third season in the Royals organization, Powers spent two years with the Miami Marlins as a player development analyst in 2019 and minor league video coordinator in 2018. He also held minor league video intern roles with the Texas Rangers (2017) and Los Angeles Dodgers (2015). Powers graduated from Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa in 2014 with a degree in business administration with a concentration in sports management and a leadership minor. At Wartburg, Powers was a four-year starter at third base for the Knights and was a two-time All-Conference selection, two-time All-Region selection, and was named to the ABCA/Rawlings All-America team in 2013.

Noworyta begins his second season with both the Royals organization and Quad Cities, serving as assistant hitting coach for the River Bandits in 2022. Originally drafted by Kansas City in the 37th round of the 2014 Draft, he played three collegiate seasons at the University of Hawaii, before playing two seasons in the Tigers organization and 2021 with the Billings Mustangs of the Pioneer League.

Pedulla enters his first season with Quad Cities and his second in the Royals organization after serving as the strength and conditioning coach for Columbia (Single-A) in 2022. Prior to his time in professional baseball, he served as a strength and conditioning coach with njFASSST in 2021 and as an intern with Texas Christian University in 2020. Pedulla graduated from Gordon College in Wenham, Massachusetts in 2021 and pitched for four seasons for the Fighting Scots.

Groleau, now in his fifth year in the Royals organization, enters his second year as the Bandits’ athletic trainer after serving in the same role with Surprise in 2021 and with Burlington from 2019-20. He was a graduate assistant athletic trainer at the University of Nebraska Omaha from 2017-19 and was also an intern athletic trainer with Omaha (Triple-A) from 2017-18.