Two summers ago, Casey Gillaspie wowed fans at Carson Park with one of the best individual summers anyone has ever had in an Express uniform.
Two years later, he heard his name called as the 20th-overall pick in the first round of the 2014 Major League Baseball Draft by the Tampa Bay Rays.
Gillaspie surpasses Jordan Zimmermann's second-round selection in 2007 as the highest drafted player in Express team history.
"Casey is well deserving," Field Manager Dale Varsho said. "He's a person to reckon with. He's a major leaguer, there's no question. He's a switch-hitting big guy that plays a great first base. I'm happy for him, and I'm sure he's a player we'll see in the big leagues."
Under Varsho in 2012, Gillaspie hit .333 with a team-record 12 home runs and 38 RBI. He was also a Northwoods League All-Star.
He exploded at Wichita State after his summer in Eau Claire. In 2013, he hit .299 for the Shockers with 11 home runs and 46 RBI.
This spring, he exploded for a .389 average with 15 home runs and 50 RBI. He was second in all of college baseball with a .520 on-base percentage and was fifth in home runs.
The 6-foot-4, 240-pound Omaha, Neb., native has an older brother, Conor, who is the starting third-baseman for the Chicago White Sox.
Major League scouts have said it's the patience Gillaspie has at the plate, along with being a powerful switch-hitter, that makes him an appealing prospect.
Gillaspie will attempt to join former Express players Zimmermann and Angels outfielder Kole Calhoun in the Major Leagues and provide even more history to the baseball-rich city of Eau Claire as well as the Express organization.
"I think it's something we all kind of expecting with how he did here and how he's doing at Wichita State since he's left," Express General Manager Andy Neborak said. "Just for credibility for us, and assuming he goes through the minors like we would all kind of expect and get to the big leagues, it could be a really big thing for us."
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The Northwoods League is the proven leader in the development of elite college baseball players. The 20-year old summer collegiate 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 (STL) and Ben Zobrist (TB). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League YouTube channel. For more information, visit northwoodsleague.com.