Travelers’ Canham hired by Beavers

First-year Arkansas Travelers Manager Mitch Canham has been hired by Oregon State as the Beavers’ new head baseball coach, Athletic Director Scott Barnes announced on the school’s website Thursday.

Canham, who last week led the Travelers to the Texas League North’s firsthalf division title, was an All-America catcher and the captain of the Beavers’ 2006 and 2007 College World Series championship teams.

The Beavers won the College World Series in 2018 over the University of Arkansas under Pat Casey, who retired Sept. 6 and was replaced by Pat Bailey, who was 36-20-1 in an interim role this season. The Beavers hosted an NCAA regional but lost in two games to end their season.

Canham, 34, was selected by the San Diego Padres in the 2007 Major League Baseball Draft and also spent time in the Oakland, St. Louis, Kansas City and Washington organizations. He played parts of nine seasons in the minor leagues, including a 91-game stint with the Northwest Arkansas Naturals in 2013. Canham’s final season as a player was in 2015 with the independent Lincoln Saltdogs.

He began his managerial career in 2016 with the Clinton Lumber Kings, who he led to the Midwest League playoffs that season. Canham led the Modesto Nuts to the California League Championship in 2017 and he was named the league’s manager of the year.

Canham was 264-219 as a minor-league manager, including 42-21 with the Travs. He did not manage the team Thursday night.