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Local designer, artist plans book-release party Saturday

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Bobby Mitchell excited for opportunity to manage SWB RailRiders

<p>MOOSIC &#8212; Despite the fact that the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders have lost touted prospects Miguel Andujar, Billy McKinney and Ben Heller in the last week and a half, the International League North Division three-time defending champions still remain one of the most talented teams in the league.</p><p>Led by New York Yankees top prospect Gleyber Torres, this year&#8217;s edition of the RailRiders features a pair of talented and young starting pitchers in Chance Adams and Domingo German and a pair of Rule 5 Draft returnees in reliever Anyelo Gomez and first baseman Mike Ford.</p><p>All 25 or younger, Torres, Adams, German, Gomez and Ford lead the RailRiders&#8217; youth movement, but they mix well with veterans in starting pitcher Luis Cessa, infielder Jace Peterson, outfielder Shane Robinson and reliever Oliver Perez. Cessa, Peterson, Robinson and Perez all bring big-league experience to the table.</p><p>Between the team&#8217;s youth and experience, there&#8217;s a confidence that they can make a run at a third-straight Governors&#8217; Cup Finals appearance.</p><p>&#8220;I played with my teammates in the spring the last few days. I saw everybody on the same page,&#8221; Torres said. &#8220;We are ready to play &#8212; to win. Everybody&#8217;s excited. Everybody&#8217;s happy. We&#8217;re ready for the start of the season &#8212; the pitchers, the catchers, everybody together. The more I see the team, everybody&#8217;s a family and everybody&#8217;s excited for this season and ready to play.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s a little bit cold for sure, but I&#8217;m excited.&#8221;</p><p>Under first-year manager Bobby Mitchell, there&#8217;s still an expectation to win.</p><p>Mitchell is fresh off a pair of successful campaigns at the helm in Double-A Trenton. He led the Thunder to 87 wins in 2016 and did five wins and an Eastern League Championship Series appearance better last season. He was then named the league&#8217;s Manager of the Year.</p><p>It&#8217;s that expectation to win that has the RailRiders eager to play on Friday despite the chance of snow in the forecast.</p><p>&#8220;His biggest thing is he wants to win, and that obviously is what every manager is going to say, but that&#8217;s his No. 1 thing. He lives and breathes to win,&#8221; Ford said. &#8220;I definitely think it&#8217;s a great atmosphere to have, especially with the higher levels. He does a great job with that. Manages the game very well.</p><p>&#8220;That winning mentality, you have to put your work in, but he rewards you if you do. It&#8217;s a nice balance.&#8221;</p><p>With the lineup ever-changing as the Yankees get healthy, the RailRiders&#8217; pitching staff will likely be the strength of the team in the early going.</p><p>Adams leads a talented started rotation that includes Cessa and German, who are both on the 40-man roster, while the bullpen is hunkered down by Perez, Gomez, Giovanny Gallegos, J.P. Feyereisen, Cale Coshow and Brady Lail.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s going to be fun,&#8221; Adams said. &#8220;We have a lot of good guys at every position &#8212; at every level, really. No matter what happens, I feel really confident out there on the mound.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;You know, I think the goal for everybody is to make the big leagues, but you need to take it day by day,&#8221; Cessa added. &#8220;Right now I need to do my job here and if I do my job here I&#8217;ll have the opportunity to get called up again.&#8221;</p><p>Torres leads the way offensively for this RailRiders squad.</p><p>The 21-year-old has prepared himself for a bounceback season after his 2017 campaign was cut short due to an elbow injury that required Tommy John surgery in June.</p><p>Mitchell confirmed on Tuesday that Torres will bat near the top of the lineup. He&#8217;ll be joined by Ford, who will likely bat cleanup, and 40-man catcher Kyle Higashioka.</p><p>The RailRiders manager did mention that he&#8217;s looking to add speed to the top of his lineup, adding that he likes to run.</p><p>&#8220;I lost a lot of games last year and now I&#8217;m here again. I&#8217;m super excited and I&#8217;m ready to play,&#8221; Torres said. &#8220;I don&#8217;t want to put too much pressure on myself. The plan is to go out and enjoy it and try to win with my teammates.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;In my opinion, we have some good hitters. Lost a couple already to New York, but I think we have a pretty strong lineup,&#8221; Higashioka added.</p><p>Even though the RailRiders have a lot of talent already, they&#8217;ll likely be joined by the likes of infielder Thairo Estrada, who&#8217;s recovering from an offseason gunshot wound suffered during an attempted robbery, and pitchers Justus Sheffield, Domingo Acevedo, Dillon Tate and Jose Mesa Jr., who are all just a phone call away in Trenton, at some point.</p><p>Estrada is expected to join the RailRiders when he&#8217;s at full health, Acevedo pitched for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in 2017, Sheffield is likely on a similar path Adams took a season ago, getting the call in May, and Tate and Mesa aren&#8217;t far behind.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;ve been doing this a while so I&#8217;ve been through different organizations. This is probably the most-talented organization that I&#8217;ve ever been in, up and down, each level,&#8221; Mitchell said. &#8220;When I look at the team in Double-A coming up here if we need somebody, it&#8217;s going to be the same this year too. The talent level is very elite and you don&#8217;t see this every day.&#8221;</p><p>If the RailRiders can put it all together, they have the potential to win a fourth straight division title and play for the Governors&#8217; Cup for a third consecutive year.</p><p>And they&#8217;ll settle for nothing less.</p><p>&#8220;That&#8217;s definitely the goal coming in. There shouldn&#8217;t be another goal who&#8217;s here,&#8221; Ford said of making another run to the Governors&#8217; Cup Finals. &#8220;Definitely to win as much as we can while mature as players along the way. I think that&#8217;s definitely the expectation.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Whether its top prospects like Gleyber Torres, right, or Chance Adams, center, or veterans like Luis Cessa, the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders are full of talent as they start the season Friday at PNC Field. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/web1_TTL04XX18railriders3.jpg</photo0><caption0>Whether its top prospects like Gleyber Torres, right, or Chance Adams, center, or veterans like Luis Cessa, the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders are full of talent as they start the season Friday at PNC Field. </caption0><photoCredit0>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/web1_TTL04XX18railriders4.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Top prospects Chance Adams (28) and Gleyber Torres and the rest of the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders hope to make a splash at PNC Field this season. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/web1_TTL04XX18railriders4.jpg</photo1><caption1>Top prospects Chance Adams (28) and Gleyber Torres and the rest of the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders hope to make a splash at PNC Field this season. </caption1><photoCredit1>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/web1_TTL04XX18railriders2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders Luis Cessa, right, and Gleyber Torres talk during Tuesday&#8217;s media day at PNC Field in Moosic. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/web1_TTL04XX18railriders2.jpg</photo2><caption2>Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders Luis Cessa, right, and Gleyber Torres talk during Tuesday&#8217;s media day at PNC Field in Moosic. </caption2><photoCredit2>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/web1_TTL04XX18railriders1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Whether its top prospects like Gleyber Torres, right, or Chance Adams, center, or veterans like Luis Cessa, the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders are full of talent as they start the season Friday at PNC Field. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/web1_TTL04XX18railriders1.jpg</photo3><caption3>Whether its top prospects like Gleyber Torres, right, or Chance Adams, center, or veterans like Luis Cessa, the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders are full of talent as they start the season Friday at PNC Field. </caption3><photoCredit3>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit3></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/web1_TTL04XX18railriders13.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Gleyber Torres returns to the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders looking to bounce back from his 2017 campaign, which was cut short after just one month in Triple-A. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo4>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/web1_TTL04XX18railriders13.jpg</photo4><caption4>Gleyber Torres returns to the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders looking to bounce back from his 2017 campaign, which was cut short after just one month in Triple-A. </caption4><photoCredit4>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit4></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/web1_TTL04XX18railriders16.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Gleyber Torres is expected to split time between second base and shortstop and bat toward the top of the lineup for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders this season. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo5>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/web1_TTL04XX18railriders16.jpg</photo5><caption5>Gleyber Torres is expected to split time between second base and shortstop and bat toward the top of the lineup for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders this season. </caption5><photoCredit5>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit5></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/web1_TTL04XX18railriders21.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">First baseman Mike Ford is expected to bat cleanup for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders this season. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo6>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/web1_TTL04XX18railriders21.jpg</photo6><caption6>First baseman Mike Ford is expected to bat cleanup for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders this season. </caption6><photoCredit6>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit6></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/web1_TTL04XX18railriders18.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Luis Cessa returns as a veteran presence in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders&#8217; starting rotation this season. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo7>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/web1_TTL04XX18railriders18.jpg</photo7><caption7>Luis Cessa returns as a veteran presence in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders&#8217; starting rotation this season. </caption7><photoCredit7>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit7></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>RailRiders sport plenty of youth, experience on Opening Day roster</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By DJ Eberle</p><p>djeberle@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach DJ Eberle at 570-991-6398 or on Twitter @ByDJEberle</p></shirttailMeta></div>

SWB RailRiders Season Preview: April showers bring major league prospects