GARY, Ind. — Kris Regas – the hard-throwing reliever who set a Northern League record by appearing in 56 games for the 2006 RailCats – will get a shot at the big leagues in 2009 after having his contract purchased by the Detroit Tigers.

Regas was a vital part of the RailCats’ 2006 club that advanced to the Northern League Championship Series, earning a spot on the league’s Full-Season All-Star Team as one of two left-handed pitchers.  Regas’ 56 appearances set Northern League and RailCats records that still stand, and the southpaw’s big season included an impressive 5-2 record and 2.36 ERA.  In 61.0 innings in 2006, Regas allowed 51 hits and struck out 52, issuing only 14 walks.

An algebra professor at Minnesota State University in Mankato, Regas was dealt to the Sioux Falls Canaries before the 2007 season, a move that trimmed five hours off the young professor’s commute to Mankato.   Since arriving in Sioux Falls, Regas has thrived, earning a spot in the American Association All-Star Game in 2007 and 2008, and serving as the closer on the Canaries’ title-winning 2008 team.  Regas set an American Association record with 30 saves this past season, going 1-0 with a miniscule 1.29 ERA.

A native of Bourbonnais, Illinois, Regas pitched in the Frontier League from 2002-05, but has had only one brief stint in affiliated baseball – a four-game stay with the New York Mets’ Single-A affiliate in Brooklyn in 2004.  A graduate of Jacksonville (Fla.) University, Regas pitched three seasons at Saint Joseph’s (Ind.) in Rensselaer before transferring to Division I Jacksonville for his senior season.  Regas began his teaching career in 2002 as a graduate assistant at Minnesota State before becoming a full-time faculty member in 2006.

Regas, who will turn 29 next month, will report to the Tigers’ Spring Training facility in Lakeland, Florida in the spring of 2009 to compete for a spot on one of the Tigers’ farm teams, likely at the Double-A or Triple-A level.