This will be the fifth consecutive season a Roper has been on the team’s roster
(Rochester, Minn)— The Rochester Honkers Baseball Club announced today that University of Illinois Fighting Illini, Ryne Roper, will return to the Honkers in 2015.
Roper is a 6-foot-2, 195-pound sophomore infielder and right-handed pitcher. He finished his first season with the Honkers last year hitting .213 with nine doubles and 12 RBIs. On the mound, Roper made five relief appearances, pitching 6.0 innings, allowing zero runs and striking out 5. He posted a 1-0 record with a 0.00 ERA. Ryne follows in the footsteps of his older brother Reid, who was also an infielder and right-handed pitcher. Reid was a four-year Honker who was named the Team’s MVP in 2014.
As a freshman at Illinois, Ryne was named to the All-Big Ten Freshman Team at third base. He played in 51 total games, starting 45 at third and five at shortstop. He finished the season hitting .246 with two doubles and 17 RBIs.
After his senior season of high school, Ryne was selected as the 2013 Illinois Gatorade Player of the Year, and was ranked as the No. 2 player in the state of Illinois and No. 15 in the Midwest Class of 2013 by Prep Baseball Report. He hit .477 with nine homeruns and 39RBIs as the leadoff man, while also posting a perfect 11-0 record on the mound. He recorded 106 strikeouts in 42 1/3 innings while only walking 8.
Ryne earned 11 total varsity letters at Harrisburg High School, excelling in football, basketball and baseball. In baseball he set school records for home runs in a season (11), career pithing wins (35), and strikeouts in a game (17).
The Rochester Honkers 22nd season begins on May 26th when the Mankato MoonDogs bark into Mayo Field for a 7:05pm first pitch. Season Tickets, Bonus Books, Suites and Patios are now available. Call the Rochester Honkers office at 507-289-1170 for more information. The Honkers are also looking for host families for the 2015 season and ask all interested parties to call the business office for more information.
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The Rochester Honkers are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. Playing its 22nd season of summer collegiate baseball in 2015, the Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 18 teams, drawing significantly more fans, in a friendly ballpark experience, than any league of its kind. A valuable training ground for coaches, umpires and front office staff, more than 115 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (DET) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (CWS), Jordan Zimmermann (WAS), Curtis Granderson (NYM), Allen Craig (BOS) and Ben Zobrist (TB). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League YouTube channel. For more information, visit www.rochesterhonkers.com.