Eau Claire Express
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (August 2012) |
| Eau Claire Express | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Information | |
| League | Northwoods League (Great Plains East 2019-present) (North Division 2014-2018) (South Division 2005-2013) |
| Location | Eau Claire, Wisconsin |
| Ballpark | Carson Park |
| Founded | 2005 |
| Division championships | 4 (2007, 2010, 2016, 2019) |
| League championships | 1 (2010) |
| Colors | Burnt Orange, Black, Light Blue |
| Ownership | Craig Toycen, The Toycen Baseball Club, LLC[1] |
| Management | Sammi Costello,[2] |
| Manager | Dale Varsho,Vic Cable[3] |
| Media | Eau Claire Leader Telegram |
| Website | EauClaireExpress.com |
The Eau Claire Express is a collegiate summer baseball team playing in the Northwoods League. Their home games are played at Carson Park, in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.
After two straight losing seasons in 2005 and 2006, the Eau Claire Express achieved many firsts during the 2007 season. The team won nine of its final ten regular season games to finish 42-26 overall and claim the 2007 2nd Half South Division title, their first regular season division title in franchise history and qualified for the Northwoods League playoffs, another franchise first.
In the 2007, South Division Championship Series, they faced the 1st Half South Division Champion Green Bay Bullfrogs. They won the series 2–1, claiming the 2007 South Division Pennant, another first in franchise history. In the 2007 Northwoods League Championship Series, they faced the North Division Champion St. Cloud River Bats and were swept 2-0 by the eventual Northwoods League Champions.
The 2008 season ended with the Express missing the Northwoods League playoffs by 1.5 games. The Express finished the season one game below .500.
The Express had one of their best seasons in 2009. They had a great first half, winning the NWL South Division to qualify for the playoffs. However, injuries and summer school depleted the squad in the second half. Eau Claire was eliminated in two games by the La Crosse Loggers in the Northwoods League Divisional round.
In 2010, the Express won the first half of the season again with a 22–12 record. Via www.perfectgame.org, the Express have been ranked as high as #3 in the nation for summer collegiate baseball. The team closed out the 2010 season winning both halves. They followed this up by winning the NWL Championship and www.perfectgame.org ranked the Eau Claire Express the #1 summer collegiate team in the nation.
The Express moved to the North Division for 2014, to accommodate the new NWL teams in Kenosha, Wisconsin and Kalamazoo, Michigan. [4]
The 2016, season saw the Express return to the Northwoods League postseason after winning the season's first half title. This was the first time the team had qualified for the playoffs since the 2010 season. Eau Claire opened the playoffs hosting the Mankato MoonDogs in the first round of the Divisional Playoffs at Carson Park. Despite having only a 1–7 record vs. Mankato in the regular season, Eau Claire was able to defeat the MoonDogs to advance. The next night the team traveled to St. Cloud, Minn. to face the second half champion Rox for a chance to play for the NWL Championship. After blowing a late lead, the Express were able to defeat the Rox in extra innings to win the North Division title.
Awaiting the Express in the NWL Championship Series was the Wisconsin Rapids Rafters, the owners of the league's best regular season record. Eau Claire led game one by a run with two outs in the ninth inning at Witter Field in Wisconsin Rapids, Wis. before giving up a walk-off, two-run home run to lose. The Express would go on to lose game two the following night at Carson Park to end a successful season and concede the Northwoods League title to the Rafters.[5]
In 2022, The Eau Claire Express won the Great Plains East Division(2nd Half) with a record of 42–26.[6] The Express lost in the first round of the playoffs to the eventual Plains Division champion Duluth Huskies.[7]
In 2023, the Express found themselves back in the playoffs, winning the first half despite an 0-3 start which they were outscored 11-20 and gave up 8 runs in two of those games. They went 20-11 the rest of the first half and clinched it with a 12-1 win on July 3 over the Rochester Honkers. They got their way through the second half, going 16-17. They would get swept by La Crosse in 2 games.
Season-by-season-records
[edit]| Season | GP | W | L | Playoffs | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | 68 | 28 | 40 | Did not qualify | |
| 2006 | 67 | 29 | 38 | Did not qualify | |
| 2007 | 68 | 42 | 26 | Won South Div. Finals 6-3, vs. Green Bay Bullfrogs Lost Championship 0-2, vs. St. Cloud River Bats | |
| 2008 | 68 | 33 | 35 | Did not qualify | |
| 2009 | 68 | 36 | 32 | Lost South Div. Finals 0-2, vs. La Crosse Loggers | |
| 2010 | 70 | 48 | 22 | Won South Div. Finals 2-1 vs. Wisconsin Woodchucks Won Championship 2-1, vs. Rochester Honkers NORTHWOODS LEAGUE CHAMPIONS | |
| 2011 | 70 | 36 | 34 | Did not qualify | |
| 2012 | 70 | 26 | 44 | Did not qualify | |
| 2013 | 70 | 33 | 37 | Did not qualify | |
| 2014 | 72 | 36 | 36 | Did not qualify | |
| 2015 | 71 | 29 | 42 | Did not qualify | |
| 2016 | 72 | 45 | 27 | Won North Div. Semi-Finals 1-0, vs. Mankato Moondogs Won North Div. Finals 1-0, vs. St. Cloud Rox Lost League Championship 0-2, vs. Wisconsin Rapids Rafters | |
| 2017 | 72 | 39 | 33 | Lost North Div. Semi-Finals 0-1, vs. Mankato Moondogs | |
| 2018 | 71 | 28 | 43 | Did not qualify | |
| 2019 | 72 | 40 | 32 | Won Great Plains East Finals, 2-games-to-0 vs. Waterloo Bucks Won Great Plains Finals, 2-0 vs. Willmar Stingers Lost League Championship, 2-3 vs. Traverse City Pit Spitters | |
| 2020 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Did not play due to the Covid-19 pandemic | |
| 2021 | 68 | 27 | 41 | Did not qualify | |
| 2022 | 68 | 42 | 26 | Lost Great Plains East Finals, 0-2 vs. Duluth Huskies | |
| 2023 | 67 | 36 | 31 | Lost Great Plains East Finals, 0-2 vs. La Crosse Loggers | |
| 2024 | 70 | 35 | 35 | Did not qualify |
Roster
[edit]| Position[8] | Number | Player | AVG | OPS | SLG | College(Year) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | 99 | Jackson Bessette | .000 | .000 | .000 | University of Illinois-Chicago (Sophomore) |
| C | 99 | Evan Gustafson | .000 | .000 | .000 | Oregon State University (Freshman) |
| C | 99 | Davis Rivers | .000 | .000 | .000 | Texas Tech University (Freshman) |
| INF | 99 | Brady Blake | .000 | .000 | .000 | Kansas University (Freshman) |
| INF | 99 | Jake Busson | .000 | .000 | .000 | Iowa Central Community College (Freshman) |
| INF | 99 | Hudson Deal | .000 | .000 | .000 | Sauk Valley Community College (Sophomore) |
| INF | 99 | Ethan Farris | .000 | .000 | .000 | Texas State University (Freshman) |
| INF | 99 | Ryan Fenn | .000 | .000 | .000 | Cal Poly (Senior) |
| INF | 99 | Dylan Knowles | .000 | .000 | .000 | Cal Poly (Junior) |
| INF | 99 | Austin Miller | .000 | .000 | .000 | Sauk Valley Community College (Sophomore) |
| INF | 99 | Ragan Pinnow | .000 | .000 | .000 | Augustana University (Sophomore) |
| INF | 99 | Gabe Richardson | .000 | .000 | .000 | University of Minnesota-Duluth (Sophomore) |
| INF | 99 | Bronson Rivera | .000 | .000 | .000 | University of Hawaii (Junior) |
| INF | 99 | Justin Sedin | .000 | .000 | .000 | UW-Stout (Junior) |
| OF | 99 | George Bilecki | .000 | .000 | .000 | Lewis University (Sophomore) |
| OF | 99 | Reggie Bussey | .000 | .000 | .000 | Oakland University (Sophomore) |
| OF | 99 | Ethan Hott | .000 | .000 | .000 | Stanford University (Sophomore) |
| OF | 99 | Dylan O'Connell | .000 | .000 | .000 | Western Kentucky University (Sophomore) |
| OF | 99 | Brady Reynolds | .000 | .000 | .000 | Stanford University (Freshman) |
| OF | 99 | Brigs Richartz | .000 | .000 | .000 | University of St. Thomas (Junior) |
| OF | 99 | Colton Wemhoff | .000 | .000 | .000 | Kansas University (Freshman) |
| Position | Number | Player | ERA | WHIP | College(Year) | |
| P | 99 | Andrew Ball | 0.00 | 0.00 | Augustana University (Freshman) | |
| P | 99 | Gavyn Bowen | 0.00 | 0.00 | State College of Florida, Manatee–Sarasota (Freshman) | |
| P | 99 | Tracen Cameron | 0.00 | 0.00 | FIU (Freshman) | |
| P | 99 | Zach Diver | 0.00 | 0.00 | Sauk Valley Community College (Sophomore) | |
| P | 99 | Rowan Donels | 0.00 | 0.00 | Iowa University (Freshman) | |
| P | 99 | Evan Esch | 0.00 | 0.00 | University of St. Thomas (Junior) | |
| P | 99 | Nick Fitzanko | 0.00 | 0.00 | William Jewell College (Junior) | |
| P | 99 | Parker Guthrie | 0.00 | 0.00 | Washington University in St. Louis (Freshman) | |
| P | 99 | Kale Hopke | 0.00 | 0.00 | Dakota County Technical College (Sophomore) | |
| P | 99 | Nolan Kemp | 0.00 | 0.00 | University of St. Thomas (Sophomore) | |
| P | 99 | Mason Lei | 0.00 | 0.00 | Rock Valley College (Freshman) | |
| P | 99 | Christian Lim | 0.00 | 0.00 | Stanford University (Freshman) | |
| P | 99 | Blake Nettleton | 0.00 | 0.00 | Sauk Valley Community College (Sophomore) | |
| P | 99 | Cole Selvig | 0.00 | 0.00 | University of Texas at Austin (Freshman) | |
| P | 99 | Ryan Speshyock | 0.00 | 0.00 | Stanford University (Freshman) | |
| P | 99 | Zacary Tenn | 0.00 | 0.00 | University of Hawaii (Freshman) | |
| P | 99 | Ethan Thomas | 0.00 | 0.00 | University of Hawaii (Freshman) | |
| P | 99 | Drew Whalen | 0.00 | 0.00 | Western Kentucky University (Freshman) |
Express Players to reach Major League Baseball
[edit]Source:[9]
- Jordan Zimmermann - Washington Nationals, Detroit Tigers, Milwaukee Brewers[10]
- Kole Calhoun - Los Angeles Angels, Arizona Diamondbacks, Texas Rangers, Cleveland Guardians[11]
- Nevin Ashley - Milwaukee Brewers[12]
- Eddie Gamboa - Tampa Bay Rays[13]
- Brad Goldberg - Chicago White Sox[14]
- Dietrich Enns - Minnesota Twins, Tampa Bay Rays[15]
- Nathan Orf - Milwaukee Brewers, Oakland Athletics[16]
- Sam Haggerty - New York Mets, Seattle Mariners[17]
- Daulton Varsho - Arizona Diamondbacks, Toronto Blue Jays[18]
- Louis Head - Tampa Bay Rays, Miami Marlins[19]
- Griffin Jax - Minnesota Twins[20]
- Steven Wilson - San Diego Padres[21]
- Mickey McDonald - Oakland Athletics[22]
- Alex Call - Cleveland Guardians, Washington Nationals[23]
- Irving Lopez - St Louis Cardinals[24]
- Erich Uelmen - Chicago Cubs, Philadelphia Phillies[25]
- Lane Ramsey - Chicago White Sox[26]
- Michael Papierski - San Francisco Giants, Cincinnati Reds[27]
- Justin Slaten - Boston Sox[28]
- Mark Hallberg (Coach) - San Francisco Giants[29]
- Justin Viele (Coach) - San Francisco Giants[30]
References
[edit]- ^ "EAU Claire Express baseball team sold".
- ^ "Express Announce First Female General Manager in Franchise History". March 2022.
- ^ "Front Office".
- ^ 2013-09-30 Express to move to North Division in 2014 Archived 2013-11-11 at the Wayback Machine, Eau Claire Express website.
- ^ "Express Fall Short in Championship Loss". Northwoodsleague.com. Retrieved 30 March 2023.
- ^ "Standings - Northwoods League". northwoodsleague.com. Retrieved 30 March 2023.
- ^ "Eau Claire Express Eliminated From Playoffs". WQOW.com. Retrieved 30 March 2023.
- ^ "Eau Claire Express - Roster". northwoodsleague.com. Retrieved 4 January 2023.
- ^ "Alumni in the Majors".
- ^ "Jordan Zimmermann Stats".
- ^ "Kole Calhoun Stats".
- ^ "Nevin Ashley Stats".
- ^ "Eddie Gamboa Stats".
- ^ "Brad Goldberg Stats".
- ^ "Dietrich Enns Stats".
- ^ "Nate Orf Stats".
- ^ "Sam Haggerty Stats".
- ^ "Daulton Varsho Stats".
- ^ "Louis Head Stats".
- ^ "Griffin Jax Stats".
- ^ "Steven Wilson Stats".
- ^ "Mickey McDonald Stats".
- ^ "Alex Call Stats".
- ^ "Irving Lopez Stats".
- ^ "Erich Uelmen Stats".
- ^ "Lane Ramsey Stats".
- ^ "Michael Papierski Stats".
- ^ "Justin Slaten Stats".
- ^ "Hallberg took unique journey to Giants' coaching staff".
- ^ "Giants hitting coach Viele's meteoric rise continues to pay off".
