KALAMAZOO, MI – The Growlers are proud to announce the signing of two players from Western Carolina University. Matt Koehler a redshirt sophomore outfielder, and Anthony Martinez a transfer junior RHP.
Matt Koehler: 6’1”, 195 Ibs, OF, Bats/R, Throws/R, Western Carolina University, (R. So), Raleigh, NC
Kohler saw action in 38 games as a freshman with 29 starts in the outfield including 23 in center field and 6 in left field before sitting out his entire sophomore year due to a offseason knee injury. In his freshman year he batted .233 with 21 hits in 90 plate appearances, tallying four doubles. He recorded six multi-hit games, all two-hit outings. Koehler put together a pair of three-game hitting streaks, the second of which included three-straight, two-hit games, walked 10 times, scored 16 runs while driving in six, and finished 5-for-6 in stolen bases. Koehler broke a five-game hitless streak to start his career by collecting his first collegiate base hit with a single in the home win over Kennesaw State.
In his second year at WCU Koehler is currently averaging .293. With 2 HR, 15 RBI in 22 games. Koehler will provide the Growlers with crafty offensive productivity doing a little bit of everything well. Koehler will look to rebound after sitting out last year, and he is on his way to a productive spring.
Anthony Martinez: 5’10”, 180 Ibs, RHP, Western Carolina University, (Jr.), Miami, FL
The junior transfer from Indian River State college looks to start a new with the Catamounts. After two less than ideal seasons at Indian River Martinez transferred to Western Carolina in the offseason after declaring interest in them during the recruiting process in high school. Coming out of high school Martinez was ranked 56 in his class of 2014 for RHP. Scouts noticed right away that Martinez has a repeatable delivery, late life on his fastball, and he can cut his fastball. His fastball topped out at 89 in high school will likely be able to increase that by the team he arrives in Kalamazoo. He also possesses a developing changeup, and breaking ball.
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The Kalamazoo Growlers are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. The 23-year-old summer collegiate league is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 20 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 160 former Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including two-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS), two-time World Series Champion Ben Zobrist (CHC) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (BOS), Jordan Zimmermann (DET), Curtis Granderson (NYM) and Lucas Duda (NYM). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League portal. For more information, visit www.growlersbaseball.com or download the new Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play and set the Growlers as your favorite team.