Hammond’s Coles returns to RailCats

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Updated: February 2, 2012 11:04PM

Mike Coles has come full circle, which doesn’t surprise him.

Coles, a former Hammond High star who began his professional baseball career with the RailCats in 2006, will be back at U.S. Steel Yard this season after signing a contract on Thursday.

“I kind of always had a feeling I would end up back in Gary,” said Coles, a 29-year-old outfielder who is entering his seventh pro season.

After batting .274 with one homer, 20 RBI and 16 steals in 74 games for the RailCats in 2006, Coles spent two years with Windy City in the Frontier League and then played all but one game of the past three seasons for Fargo-Moorhead in the Northern League and American Association.

He still makes his offseason home in Northwest Indiana and is two semesters away from earning a sociology degree from Purdue Calumet. While he still has the desire to keep playing, Coles also is thinking about life after baseball.

“Even though I feel I can play another five, six years, I want to make sure I have everything together as far as my degree,” he said.

RailCats manager Greg Tagertc x, who has brought back other players for multiple stints including Willie Glen and Tanner Townsend, welcomed the chance to re-sign Coles.

“We were aware that Mike was a free agent,” Tagert said. “We were interested from the beginning. Mike reached out to me recently ... for us it became a matter of coming up with a contract that (reflects) what he accomplished the past few years.”

Coles is a career .306 hitter with 137 stolen bases in 518 pro games. He batted .276 in 2011 for Fargo-Moorhead with one homer, 36 RBI and 17 steals in 79 games.

Though Coles is coming in and starting outfielders Mike Massaro and Adam Klein are returning, the RailCats haven’t closed the door on bringing back Cristian Guerrero, the top power hitter in franchise history.

Guerrero has explored playing this season closer to his East Coast home, most likely in the Atlantic League. But if he is back in Gary, Tagert said the most likely scenario would be to have all four outfielders play every day with each getting some time at DH.