ROCHESTER, MN. – The 2019 Rochester Honkers baseball club will feature four players from Oregon State University: Jake Dukart, Ryan Ober, Kyler McMahan, and Zack Zalesky.
Dukart is a 6’2”, 185 pound infielder from Lake Oswego, Oregon. He will join the Honkers following his freshman season at Oregon State. He was selected in the 36th round of the 2018 MLB Draft by Boston but did not sign. Dukart is a multi-sport athlete as he served as the backup quarterback for the Oregon State football team for part of the 2018 season; he left in September to join Oregon State baseball team. Playing collegiate baseball is in his DNA as his father, Derek, played for four years at Nebraska before joining the New York Yankees organization from 1994-1997. At Lake Oswego High School, Dukart batted .371 with a .519 on-base percentage as a senior. He tallied 14 extra-base hit and stole 17 bases.
Ober is a 5’11”, 185 pound infielder from Snohomish, Washington. He will join the Honkers after completing his sophomore season at Oregon State. As a freshman, he played in eight games, batting seven times with four runs scored for the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Champions. At Glacier Park High School, Ober earned First-Team All-State, All-Area and All-League honors as a senior. That year, he batted .441 with nine doubles, two triples, one home runs, 23 runs batted in, and six stolen bases. He was also honored as a High School Heisman Award nominee.
McMahan is a 5’10”, 174 pound outfielder from Seattle, Washington. He will join the Honkers following his sophomore season at Oregon State. As a freshman, McMahan played in 12 games, batting seven times and scoring three runs. During his time at Lynnwood High School, McMahan earned four consecutive First-Team All-League awards, all at shortstop. He was named Wesco Conference Most Valuable Player as a senior. As a junior, he batted .299 with seven doubles, one triple, one home run, 13 runs batted in, and 10 stolen bases.
Zalesky is a 5’10”, 184 pound infielder/outfielder from Corvallis, Oregon. He will join the Honkers after his redshirt sophomore season at Oregon State. As a redshirt freshman, he played in eight games, batting eight times, scoring one run, and recording two runs batted in. At Corvallis High School, Zalesky was named First-Team All-State as both a senior and junior. In addition to baseball, he also lettered three years in basketball. His father, Jim, is Oregon State’s wrestling program’s head coach.
The Honkers will open up the 2019 campaign on May 28 when they host the St. Cloud Rox on Opening Night at Mayo Field. Season tickets and new all-you-can-eat ticket packages are available for purchase right now at www.RochesterHonkers.com or by calling the Honkers front office at 507-289-1170.
The Rochester Honkers are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. Now in its 26th season, the Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 22 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 (MIA). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League portal. For more information, visit www.rochesterhonkers.com or download the new Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play and set the Honkers as your favorite team.