RAILCATS SIGN FORMER NCAA SAVES LEADER

April 24, 2007 Contact: Tom Nichols at (219) 882-2255

Gary, Ind.—The Gary SouthShore RailCats Professional Baseball Club today announced the signing of right-handed pitcher Chad Blackwell as the club prepares for the start of spring training on Thursday, May 3 ^rd.

Blackwell, 24, was a sixth round draft pick by the Kansas City Royals in 2004 out of the University of South Carolina. In the spring of 2004, Blackwell led the nation with 20 saves and earned All-American honors while helping South Carolina to final four of the College World Series.

Blackwell was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates prior to the 2006 season. He has gone 10-12 with a 3.60 earned run average in 93 games in three years of professional baseball, enjoying his best season in 2005 with Burlington of the Midwest League, where he posted a record of 7-4 with a 2.23 ERA and 14 saves.

RAILCATS HOPING UNIVERSITY OF EVANSVILLE PIPELINE CONTINUES TO PAY OFF WITH SIGNING OF OBENCHAIN

The RailCats today signed free agent right-handed pitcher Steve Obenchain, a former supplemental first round draft pick of the Oakland A's and a product of the University of Evansville.

Three of Obenchain's former teammates at Evansville have been major factors in the RailCats back-to-back trips to the Northern League finals and/or 2005 league championship. Those three players include starting pitcher Willie Glen, the most successful pitcher in RailCats history and the current ace of the staff; outfielder Andy Rohleder, the RailCats hard-nosed starting right fielder in 2006 who has elected to retire; and pitcher Ryan Miller, another key member of the 2006 RailCats who has also retired.

Obenchain was an NCAA Division I 3^rd Team All-American in 2002 when he broke the UE school record for single-season earned run average with a mark of 1.38 and earned 12 saves (one short of Willie Glen's school record). He also joined Rohleder in garnering both 2002 1^st Team All-Missouri Valley Conference and ABCA All-Region honors. He was also named the school's athlete of the year (all sports).

Oakland selected Obenchain with the 37^th overall selection of the 2002 draft. He rose to the Double-A level of the A's organization by 2004 and returned there in 2005 before missing most of 2006 with an arm injury. In five years in the Oakland organization, he was 20-22 with a 4.15 ERA.

RAILCATS DEAL REGAS TO SIOUX FALLS

The RailCats announced today that pitcher Kris Regas has been traded to Sioux Falls of the American Association in exchange for a player to be named later and cash. Regas spent the 2006 season with the RailCats, posting a record of 5-2 with a 2.36 ERA in a Northern League record 56 appearances. He was named to the Northern League Full-Season All-Star Team as one of two left-handed pitchers.

CASTON, WALLACE ALSO JOIN RAILCATS

The RailCats also announced today the signings of outfielder Bernard Caston, and catcher Brett Wallace.

Caston is 33 years old and has spent eight years in independent professional baseball, most recently in 2005, when he batted a combined .264 and stole 18 bases while playing in both the Central League and Can-Am League. He played for RailCats manager Greg Tagert in the Frontier League in 1997 with Evansville. He played in the Northern League over five consecutive years from 1998-2002, batting a combined .275 with 118 stolen bases.

Wallace was a 2006 NCAA Division II 3^rd Team All-American and was selected 1^st Team All-North Atlantic Region with West Chester University (Pennsylvania), leading the Rams into the Division II College World Series. He batted .321 with seven home runs and 53 RBI, the fourth highest total in school history. He was also the Most Valuable Player of the North Atlantic Region tournament.

ROSTER ROUNDUP

The RailCats currently have 24 players under contract for 2007. In addition to the four players signed today, others include pitchers Jared Brown, David Byard, Tony Cogan, Steve Edsall, Willie Glen, Travis Kerber, Brad Mumma, Jim Paduch, Jason Shelley, and Stephen Spragg; catchers Steve Ketter and Jose Yepez; infielders David Detienne, Eric McNamee, Jay Pecci, and Tanner Townsend; and outfielders Jermaine Allensworth, Dale Mueller, Nate Price, and Mike Reese.

Pitcher Josh Habel and outfielder Steve Haake are both expected to be signed prior to the start of spring training to bring the total to 26 players. League rules allow 28 players on the spring roster and Tagert expects to add two more players over the next week.

The RailCats open Spring Training on May 3^rd and begin the 2007 season on May 17^th at U. S. Steel Yard against the Winnipeg Goldeyes. RailCats 2007 ticket packages and merchandise are available at U. S. Steel Yard or by calling (219) 882-2255.

More Info : The Gary SouthShore RailCats are a Professional Minor League Baseball Team serving Northwest Indiana and Chicago's south suburbs. For the last three years, they have been chosen "Best Local Spectator Sport" by Northwest Indiana Business Quarterly. Their 96 game schedule includes 47 home games at beautiful U. S. Steel Yard, an award-winning 6,000 seat state-of-the-art facility located next to the Indiana Toll Road (I-90) with easy access to I-65.