St. Cloud, MN- The St. Cloud Rox announced the signing of four more players for the 2015 season today. The list includes Wake Forest’s John McCarren and Bruce Steel, Olivet Nazarene University’s Josh Altmann and Colorado Mesa University’s Kyle Serrano.
McCarren, a 6’3’’ sophomore right-handed pitcher from Wake Forest University, has thrown 48.2 innings of relief this spring. He has an ERA of 5.55 with 30 strikeouts. He was named the #19 prospect in the Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League after pitching 27.2 innings for the Amsterdam Mohawks. In 17 appearances he compiled a 2-1 record and 2.60 earned run average.
Steel is a 6’2’’ utility player also from Wake Forest University has hit five doubles, one homerun and eight runs batted in this spring. He has a .959 fielding percentage. The Jupiter, Florida native was named the 2014 Sun Sentinel high school Player of the Year with a .514 batting average. Following his senior year at Cardinal Newman High School he was named to USA Baseball’s 2014 National Development Team.
Altmann, a 6’3’’ junior middle infielder at Olivet Nazarene University, started all 50 games for the Tigers in 2015 while leading the team with a .432 batting average. He had 67 hits while hitting six homeruns and 36 RBIS. Led the team with 15 doubles and posted an on base percentage of .535. He was named to the CCAC All-Conference First Team, NCCAA North Central All-Region Team in 2014 and was named to the CCAC All-Conference Second Team as a freshman in 2013.
Serrano is a 5’11’’ utility player from Colorado Mesa University. He has hit .393 with six homeruns and 54 RBIs in 54 games in 2015. Scored 59 runs and posted a .489 on base percentage. He was recently named to the First Team All-Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference after leading the conference in runs scored and runs batted in. He was also named to the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Gold Glove team.
Also joining the Rox will be Sam Briend for his first season as pitching coach from Oglethorpe University. He recently finished up his second season as assistant coach at his alma mater. During his playing career at Oglethorpe he was the team captain and earned First-Team All-Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference honors. Following his collegiate career Briend played professionally for two seasons in the Canadian-American Association and the Pecos League. Briend is no stranger to the Northwoods League as he played for the Duluth Huskies in 2010.
The Rox home opener is Saturday, May 30th at Joe Faber Field as the Rox take on the Thunder Bay Border Cats at 7:05p.m. There will be a post-game fireworks show presented by Coborn’s. Single game, season and group tickets for the 2015 season are currently available online at www.stcloudrox.com, visiting the Rox Ticket Office at the Municipal Athletic Complex Monday through Friday between 9:00 am and 5:00 pm or by contacting the Rox ticket office at (320) 240-9798,
The St. Cloud Rox 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 summer collegiate 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 120 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (CWS), Jordan Zimmermann (WAS), Curtis Granderson (NYM), Allen Craig (BOS) and Ben Zobrist (OAK). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League Website. For more information, visit www.stcloudrox.com.