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2026 La Crosse Loggers Baseball There’ s No Place Like Copeland
Billy Horton Assistant Coach
Billy Horton is embarking on his first season in La Crosse and the Northwoods League in 2026 but is a veteran in the coaching world.
Horton comes to the Loggers with service in three different MLB organizations and has managed for the past three seasons in the Pioneer League.. He was with the San Francisco Giants from 2012-2019 as a hitting coach, fundamentals coach, and director of extended spring training. In 2016, Horton managed the Arizona League Giants Orange, guiding them to a 30-26 record. During that time, more than two dozen Giants players who were drafted or signed as minor league free agents made their MLB debut. Horton has also worked in various capacities for the Arizona Diamondbacks( 2001-2003, 2006) and Chicago White Sox( 2003).
More recently, Horton served as the field manager and assistant general manager of the Yolo / Yuba Sutter High Wheelers of the Pioneer League, a position he held for the past two seasons where he was also named the 2024 Pioneer League Manager of the Year. Prior to that he earned the same Manager of the year accolades while guiding the Billings Mustangs. He has also served as a manager for the Williamsport Crosscutters in the MLB Draft League( 2021), going 25-32 in the league’ s inaugural campaign, as well as the field coordinator for the Arizona Collegiate Wood Bat League( 2020, 2022).
In 2006, Horton founded Cactus Athletics, a company dedicated to training young athletes and coaches. He is familiar with virtually all the new technology used by MLB to find and train players, including Rapsodo, K-Motion, Hit Trax, Trackman, and Blast Motion. Over the past 17 years more than 10,000 players and coaches have participated in his camps, clinics, and baseball leagues.
As a player, Horton got his first taste of Independent baseball, suiting up as a catcher, first baseman, and outfielder in five different leagues. In total, he saw action for the West Manitoba Wranglers, New Jersey Jackals, Tupelo Tornado, Bayou Bullfrogs, Canton Crocodiles, and Cook County Cheetahs from 1997-00. He played collegiately at Spring Hill College in Mobile, Alabama.
Adam Lesko Assistant Coach
Coach Adam Lesko is reuniting with former teammate Justin Ramsey in his first stint with the La Crosse Loggers this summer. Lesko was a teammate of Ramsey’ s when the two played at Oral Roberts University in 2004-220 and he also enjoyed a stop at the University of Nevada. Lesko has coached for over 17 years including serving as the pitching coach for the Minot Hot Tots last summer as well as the pitching coach for the Muskegon Clippers of the Great Lakes League in 2024. He is the currently the varsity pitching coach at Centennial HS in Las Vegas.
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