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Chris Torres Joins Coaching Staff

By Christian Heimall, 04/07/16, 2:00PM EDT

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Former Can-Am Champion Named Boulders Bench Coach

(POMONA, NY) – The Rockland Boulders today announced the addition of Chris Torres to their coaching staff for the 2016 season. Torres, who spent seven years in professional baseball as a player, will serve as the team’s bench coach, joining pitching coach Carlos Mirabal and manager Jamie Keefe on the staff.

“Chris had a nice seven-year career as a catcher, and I was lucky enough to have him in parts of two of those seasons,” said Boulders manager Jamie Keefe. “His six seasons in the Can-Am will add great value to our club. Not only will he be the bench coach, but he’ll work hand-in-hand with the catchers on our team and side-by-side with both Carlos and myself to help both our pitching staff and our hitters.”

Torres, who won a Can-Am League Championship in 2007 with the Nashua Pride, began his playing career in 2005 after being drafted by the Detroit Tigers. A utility infielder, he spent one season at Low-A Oneonta before joining the Newark Bears, then of the Atlantic League, in 2006. The following year he played for the North Shore Spirit in the Can-Am prior to being traded to Nashua.  Torres appeared in 44 games for the Pride, helping the team win its only league title, defeating North Shore in the process.

This will not be the first time Torres as served under Keefe. The native of Vero Beach, Florida played for the Boulders skipper in 2010 and 2011 when Keefe was managing the Pittsfield Colonials. He then went on to play for the Worcester Tornadoes in 2012, posting career bests in batting average (.317), home runs (12), and RBI (35).

“I’m excited to be back in professional baseball and back in a league that I’m very familiar with,” noted Torres. “After taking some time off to start a family, it was pure luck to run in to Jamie at a youth tournament and it just worked out perfectly.”

Following the disbanding of the Tornadoes, Torres was selected by the Boulders in the dispersal draft, but ultimately chose to retire. He instead opted to join the coaching ranks, taking over as the Head Coach of the Old Orchard Beach Raging Tide (Old Orchard Beach, ME) of the Future’s Collegiate Baseball League, until the franchise folded after the 2014 season.

Coaching is in the bloodline for Torres. His late father, Victor, was a hitting coach in the San Francisco Giants organization for six years. Victor had been in professional baseball since 1994, previously running his own baseball academy in his native Puerto Rico and Florida from 1973-1989.

Torres played his college ball at Cumberland University in Belmont, Tennessee and was originally selected by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 2001 MLB June Amateur Draft. While in college, he helped the Bulldogs win a NAIA National Championship in 2004, the first in school history, and returned to the NAIA World Series in his senior year when he was also named an All-American.