GARY, Ind. — Gary SouthShore RailCats legend Tanner Townsend, All-Star Travis Kerber and longtime pitcher and Pitching Coach Jamie Bennett have been added to the celebrity lineup for the second-annual RailCats Fan Fest, Saturday, February 20 at the Radisson Hotel at Star Plaza in Merrillville.

Discount presale tickets for the Fan Fest are on sale now at $20 for adults and $10 for 2010 season ticket holders and kids (age 12 and under).  Tickets can be purchased by visiting www.railcatsbaseball.com, calling 219.882.2255 or visiting the RailCats offices at U. S. Steel Yard during regular business hours.  Ticket prices will go up on the day of the event, so buy now to get the best available price!

A ticket to Fan Fest not only includes hours of baseball fun in the heart of winter, it also includes great bonus gifts for the first 1,000 fans, including a reserved seat voucher to Opening Day (Thursday, May 20 at 7 p.m.), a souvenir program and commemorative poster.  Plus, the first 500 adults will get a Fan Fest t-shirt and the first 500 kids will get a logo baseball, courtesy Hoosier Bat Company.  The 2010 Fan Fest will include all the same fun and games that brought 1,000 fans out in 2009, like baseball clinics, question-and-answer forums, autograph sessions, fun-centric ballpark games and a handful of other special surprises.

Townsend, the 2008 Northern League Player of the Year, signed with the Florida Marlins after that season and continued to excel, leading the Puerto Rican Winter League in postseason batting in 2008-09.  A back injury cost Townsend the entire 2009 season, however, but on the road to recovery he’ll make his first Fan Fest appearance this year.  The Kentucky native played for the RailCats from 2005-08 and set a bevy of offensive team records in 2008 when he hit .371 and led the Northern League with a franchise-record 84 RBI in 79 games.

Kerber, one of the longest-serving RailCats in team history, will also make his maiden Fan Fest appearance in 2010.  A do-it-all pitcher on RailCats staffs from 2004-08, Kerber was an All-Star reliever in 2006 and part of one of the best rotations in Northern League history the following season.  A college catcher, Kerber pitched in a record 122 games in his RailCats career and was a key part of one of the most significant games in ‘Cats lore, recording nine outs against eight batters in three perfect innings on September 18, 2005 – Game Five of the Northern League Championship Series.

Bennett, the RailCats fifth-year pitching coach, started and won that fateful game in 2005 to complete a six-year professional career.  A standout southpaw at the University of Tennessee, Bennett followed skipper Greg Tagert during his last four pro seasons, then joined Tagert’s staff as pitching coach in 2006.  Since then, Bennett’s charges have consistently ranked among the best in the league and have included a pair of Northern League Pitcher of the Year honorees.

Townsend, Kerber and Bennett join Tagert, Jay Pecci, Tony Cogan and Mike Rohde as confirmed guests at the 2010 Fan Fest.  All will be available for autographs, answering your questions and helping out at the baseball clinics throughout the day.  For more information on Fan Fest, visit www.railcatsbaseball.com or call 219.882.2255.

The Radisson Hotel is located at the intersection of I-65 and US-30 in Merrillville and is adjacent to the Star Plaza Theater, The Region’s foremost indoor entertainment venue.  For more information on the Radisson Hotel at Star Plaza, visit www.radisson.com/merrillvillein.