Play ball Cleburne Railroaders ’ 2024 season under way
STORY BY Monica Faram
The Cleburne Railroaders ’ 2024 season is about three weeks under way as of press time , and it ’ s been a mixed variety of outcomes as they opened the season .
They won four straight games , followed by four straight losses before bouncing back on the road with three wins in a row . For updated scores , visit cleburnetimesreview . com or ilovetexasbaseball . com .
Club Manager Pete Incaviglia , before the season started , sat down to discuss what fans can anticipate seeing on the ball field this summer as the Railroaders enter their seventh season with the third new ownership .
“ There ’ s a dozen guys coming back this year , mixed in with some new players ,” he said . “ We ’ re going to have a very athletic team . I like having an athletic team and guys that can play multiple positions because of roster limits . My teams are guys that can help you win a game in more ways than one . They can run , they can hit , they can defend ... they can do it all .”
Hill Alexander is one of those returning players , as this marks his third season with the team . The outfielder lives in Fort Worth and said he enjoys playing close to home .
“ It ’ s a great place to play ,” he said . “ The fans are awesome . The stadium is great and just keep wanting to come back .”
Alexander had the chance to play for the previous ownership and said he looks forward the season under the new ownership , Railroaders Baseball Partners LLC , who assumed majority ownership of the team in June 2023 .
“ The new ownership is really on top of things , from communication to stuff they ’ re doing around the stadium ,” he said . “ It ’ s really awesome . The new coaches are awesome . We ’ ve got to spend a little bit of time with Pete and the hitting coach Ruby and they ’ re good guys who know what they ’ re talking about and I ’ m excited to play for them .”
Alexander was an All-Star last year and ended the season as one of the top three outfielders in the American Association of Professional Baseball league .
“ We ’ re going to be really , really good ,” Alexander said . “ How they ’ ve been able to recruit and sign players this year is awesome .”
Players began filing into the stadium at the end of April to begin working out .
“ Our hopes are always to win a championship ,” Incaviglia said . “ That ’ s why we ’ re all here . If we ’ re not all thinking about winning a championship then we probably need to go do something else . The mindset in everything we do is to try to move forward and get in a championship and win a championship .”
Incaviglia said his entire coaching is looking forward to seeing what the team can accomplish together . After looking at them on paper , he said they ’ re excited to seeing what they can do every day on the field .
“ We have a very talented team ,” he said . “ We have a lot of guys with Major League pedigree . I think we are very diverse in what we can do . We got guys in bullpen that can throw the ball 100 mph and we ’ ve got guys who can run and steal bases . Big power .”
Stacy McNabb was in the stands to watch practice during the Railroaders Media Day held presseason . He and his wife have served as a host family for the Railroaders since the 2017 season .
“ Being a host family is probably our favorite part of Cleburne Railroader baseball ,” he said . “ It ’ s like having your own kid playing basically . It ’ s a great way to get involved personally with the team .”
This year they are hosting Seth Romano , one of the pitchers . McNabb said every year is a different experience when hosting a player .
“ It just depends on the player ,” he said . “ Some players hang out with you a lot and some players just stick to themselves .”
The new management team also has several new community initiatives planned , as well as special promotional events for each different day of the week .
“ The Cleburne Railroaders are excited to announce a series of new community initiatives for the 2024 sea-
6 Community Life