St. Cloud, MN – The St. Cloud Rox today announced the organization has signed two players from the University of Minnesota and two players from Kent State University to its roster for the upcoming 2019 Northwoods League season.

Those players include infielder/outfielder Zack Elliott and pitcher Gus Radel from Minnesota and pitcher/outfielder Max Rippl and catcher/infielder Sam Thompson from Kent State.

Elliott, an Eden Prairie native, is entering his freshman season at Minnesota in 2019. Prior to coming to the Gophers, Elliott played high school baseball at Eden Prairie High School, where he helped lead his team to the Class 4A state championship during his junior season. A 2018 Minnesota Mr. Baseball finalist, Elliott earned all-section and all-state honors, was named to the 2018 Star Tribune All-Minneapolis Metro Second Team, earned MVP honors at the Minnesota Coaches All-Star Series and was ranked as the No. 3 shortstop and the No. 14 overall player in the state of Minnesota by Prep Baseball Report during his high school career. Elliott also participated in football and basketball during his time at Eden Prairie.

Radel, a right-handed pitcher and South Dakota native, is currently a freshman at Minnesota. Before joining the Gophers, Radel played high school baseball at Roosevelt High School in Sioux Falls, where he was a pitcher and infielder for the Raiders. Radel was named a 2018 Rawlings-Perfect Game Honorable Mention All-American and earned All-Region and All-State honors throughout his career. He was also ranked as the No. 1 overall pitcher in South Dakota by Perfect Game, while being ranked as the No. 4 overall pitching prospect in Iowa/South Dakota by Prep Baseball Report. Along with baseball, Radel played football and basketball at Roosevelt.

Rippl, a right-handed pitcher and Florida native, is entering his freshman year at Kent State this season. Prior to coming to Kent State, Rippl played high school baseball at Southwest Florida Christian Academy, where he was a three-year letterman and helped his team to a 23-6 record and a district runner-up finish in 2018. During his senior season, Rippl earned All-State honors and was named the SWFL Baseball Player of the Year. He finished his high school career with an ERA of 2.50 and 194 strikeouts, while tallying a career batting average of .431 with 20 home runs and 72 RBI.

Thompson, a Georgia native, is currently a freshman at Kent State. Before coming to the Golden Flashes, Thompson played high school baseball at Bremen High School in Georgia, where he was ranked the No. 25 catcher in the state of Georgia. Along with playing high school baseball at Bremen, Thompson spent time playing for Baseball Genius Academy, a travel baseball program in Georgia, and was named to the Perfect Game Preseason All-American and All-Region Teams in 2018.

Field Manager Augie Rodriguez and the Rox organization will continue to build the roster for the upcoming season. To date, the Rox have 12 players signed for the 2019 season.

 

Name	Position(s)	College
Reid Bourque	Infielder	McNeese State University
Jackson Cluff	Infielder	Brigham Young University
Ryan Davis*	Outfielder/Infielder	Georgetown University
Zack Elliott	Infielder/Outfielder	University of Minnesota
Josh Falk	Infielder	South Dakota State University
Adam Lopez	Infielder	University of San Diego
Gus Radel	Right-Handed Pitcher	University of Minnesota
Max Rippl	Right-Handed Pitcher/Outfielder	Kent State University
Hance Smith*	Right-Handed Pitcher/Catcher	University of California-Berkeley
Gus Steiger*	Infielder/Outfielder	South Dakota State University
Sam Thompson	Catcher/Infielder	Kent State University
Justin Wick*	Left-Handed Pitcher	Creighton University
	*Returning player from 2018

 

The Rox will open their eighth season of Northwoods League baseball in 2019. The Rox home opener is Saturday, June 1 at 7:05 p.m., featuring post-game fireworks presented by Coborn’s. To view and download the full 2019 Rox schedule, click here. For more information regarding this release, 7-Game Packs, season tickets or partial season ticket packages for the 2019 season, please contact the Rox front office at 320-240-9798 or visit www.stcloudrox.com.

The St. Cloud Rox are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. The Northwoods 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, over 200 former Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS), two-time World Series Champions Ben Zobrist (CHC) and Brandon Crawford (SFG) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (BOS), Jordan Zimmermann (DET) and Curtis Granderson (TOR).  All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League portal. For more information, visit www.stcloudrox.com or download the new Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play and set the Rox as your favorite team.

 

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