The St. Joseph Mustangs this week added another outfielder to their roster, bolstering their stable of local athletes at the same time.

Ryan Hook, a 6-foot-2, 190-pound junior at Western Kentucky, has signed a contract to play for the college wood bat summer league team.

Hook, who batted .394 for Maple Woods Community College last year before transferring to Western Kentucky, was a standout performer at Benton High School.

Hook started all 40 games for the Cardinals as a senior, batting .394 with nine doubles, three triples and 11 home runs.

This season, Hook is batting .400 (2-for-5) with two RBIs and a walk in three games — including one start — for the Hilltoppers.

Hook rejoins former Benton players Johnny Coy (Wichita State) and Drew Garwood (Truman State) on the roster. Other local products slated to play for the Mustangs in their inaugural season are former Central athletes Jordan McLaughlin (Truman State) and Landinn Eckhardt (Illinois State), St. Joseph Christian graduate Adam Nelson (Villanova) and former East Buchanan standout Ethan Barnett (Park).

Renovations near completion

The Mustangs received temporary occupancy permits from the city of St. Joseph on Wednesday for both the new press box and the team office/ticket booth, located under the grandstand on the first-base side of Phil Welch Stadium.

The press box got its first use on Wednesday afternoon during a doubleheader between Missouri Western and Nebraska-Omaha. General manager Rick Muntean and the front office staff will begin moving into the team headquarters from the small, temporary trailer located outside the stadium gates.

“I’ve had enough,” Muntean said of the close quarters. “As the season gets closer and equipment starts to come in, it’s getting tougher to move around in there.”

Muntean said he hopes to have the temporary office trailer moved off the property by the end of the month.

The “Home Run Deck,” located behind the right-field fence, is complete except for a ramp leading up to the wooden structure. That will be completed as concrete work from the grandstand and out along the right side of the stadium is finished, Muntean said.

Web site up

The team’s Web site went live last week, although the information is still somewhat limited.

At stjoemustangs.com, fans can view the schedule, see the roster and find ticket information.

In addition, the site includes photographs of the renovation work that is nearing completion at Phil Welch Stadium.

Few chairback seats left

Team owner Dan

Gerson and general manager Muntean have been pleased with season ticket sales.

During the Phil Welch Stadium renovation the team took out a number of chairback seats that provided limited visibility to the field, putting those seats as a premium.

“Ticket sales have been going great, but we’re really running low on our inventory of chairback season tickets,” Gerson said.

Those chairback season tickets, which are $199 for the 25-game home schedule, represent a $51 savings over single-game ticket purchases. The package includes the ticket holder’s name on the back of his/her seat, an invitation to a private season ticket holder party, guaranteed giveaways of items distributed at the gate during the season, one official Mustangs cap and availability of the unused ticket policy, in which any ticket not used can be redeemed at the box office for a general admission ticket to any future game that season.

A general admission season ticket package, which is $99, represents a $26 savings over single-ticket purchases, a ticket to the season ticket holder party, availability of the unused ticket policy and guaranteed giveaways.

Those wanting more information can call the Mustangs office at 279-7856 or refer to the team’s Web site.