GARY, Ind. — The Gary SouthShore RailCats and Lakeshore Public Radio have reached an agreement to broadcast all 96 regular season games, playoff games and select exhibition games on The Lakeshore, 89.1 FM in 2009, the team announced at a press conference today.

“This is an exciting day for baseball fans in Northwest Indiana,” RailCats President/General Manager Roger Wexelberg said.  “By partnering with Lakeshore Public Radio and 89.1 FM, fans will now be able to hear the RailCats all summer throughout the Region, in Lake, Porter and LaPorte counties, and even into the south suburbs of Chicago.  We are ecstatic to bring our games to those fans who have not been able to hear RailCats baseball in the past, and to also align ourselves with an organization as respected as Lakeshore.”

The Lakeshore launched on 89.1 FM last week, bringing the Lakeshore Public Television brand to radio for the first time.  The station will be the destination for news, talk and sports in Northwest Indiana, reaching 500,000 listeners in the lakeshore region.

“Lakeshore Public Radio, 89.1 FM, is proud to partner with the RailCats in 2009,” Lakeshore Public Television and Lakeshore Public Radio President and CEO Tom Carroll said.  “The Lakeshore is committed to being the source for the sports that matter most to Northwest Indiana.  We hope to help the RailCats reach new audiences in their eighth season.”

Andy Viano will serve as the play-by-play voice of the RailCats for the second straight season in 2009, his fifth overall with the organization.  RailCats home games will again be carried over the Internet as a video stream on www.iBNSports.com and the ‘Cats will also have streaming audio for every game available on www.railcatsbaseball.com.

Since 2003, RailCats baseball games had been carried on WEFM, 95.9 FM, in Michigan City.

“We are very appreciative of the hard work Ron Miller and WEFM have put in the last six years,” Wexelberg said.  “They have been a loyal supporter of RailCats baseball and we are grateful for the partnership we were able to develop.”

A subsidiary of Northwest Indiana Public Broadcasting, Inc., Lakeshore Public Radio, The Lakeshore, 89.1 FM serves more than 500,000 listeners in the lakeshore region with extensive local coverage.  The Lakeshore broadcasts from Lowell, Indiana with offices in Merrillville, Indiana.

The RailCats begin their seventh season at state-of-the-art U. S. Steel Yard Monday, May 18 at 7 p.m. against the Joliet JackHammers.  Season tickets, group packages, mini-plans and flex tickets for 2009, and tickets to the first-ever RailCats Fan Fest (Saturday, February 21 at the Radisson Hotel), are available now by visiting the all-new www.railcatsbaseball.com or calling the RailCats at (219) 882-2255.