Grand Forks Spitfires head coach Aaron Alvarez returns for 2027 season
· Yahoo Sports
Oct. 2—GRAND FORKS — The Grand Forks Spitfires began their inaugural season led by head coach Aaron Alvarez.
They'll enter Year 2 with the same man at the helm.
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The Spitfires announced Friday that Alvarez will return as head coach for the 2027 season.
"I want to thank Ryan Voz and Marc Jerzak for working with me to make my return possible," Alvarez said in a release. "I also want to thank the Spitfires front office staff and the Grand Forks community for the incredible support that motivated me to return for the 2027 season. You have truly made me feel like a big-league manager, and I look forward to being part of the Spitfires again."
Grand Forks nearly made the Northwoods League Softball Championship in its first season. The Spitfires ended with a 20-20 record, finishing just one game behind the Wausau Ignite in the standings.
Alvarez was selected to manage the West team during the 2026 Northwoods League All-Star game.
"Aaron played an essential role in establishing who we are as a team and what we expect from our program," Spitfires general manager Roberto Lemus said in a release. "Starting a franchise comes with challenges that an established team does not have to face, but Aaron embraced every part of that process. He brought players from different schools and backgrounds together, created a competitive culture and showed that the Spitfires could compete with the best teams in the league from the beginning."
Five Spitfires were named to the West All-Star team: Ally Hetzel, Taylor Larson, Alex Graham, Emma Peeples and Mattison Kwarta.
Kwarta also won the 2026 Northwoods League Softball Home Run Challenge.
Alvarez, a former collegiate summer league player and coach, was
hired in January 2026
.
Alvarez is also the head coach at York University in Nebraska. He was hired two weeks before the start of the 2024 season.
Alvarez brought along two of his collegiate players to the Spitfires: Larson and Peeples, both of whom were named All-Stars.
Alvarez was instrumental in crafting Grand Forks' first-ever roster, using previous recruiting connections to bring several players on board.
York University went 9-33 and 8-36 in Alvarez's first two years in charge. The program improved to 16-30 this season.
Next year's roster has yet to be confirmed, though Alvarez said Grand Forks will have a 'special group of players returning' next summer.
"Finishing third during our first season was an accomplishment, but Aaron and our organization are not satisfied with stopping there," Lemus said. "We believe in what he is building, we believe in the culture he has created and we believe the future of Spitfires softball is incredibly bright. Our goal is to continue improving, compete for a championship and give Grand Forks a team it is proud to support."
Northwoods League Softball will enter its fourth season next summer. There are six teams in the collegiate summer league: the Spitfires, the La Crosse Steam, the Madison Night Mares, the Mankato Habaneros, the Minot Honeybees and the Wausau Ignite.
The Northwoods League completed 33rd baseball season this summer.