Eau Claire, Wis.- Former Express players Casey Gillaspie and Brian Mundell both had successful seasons in Minor League Baseball this past summer.
Casey Gillaspie was awarded Tampa Bay Rays Minor League Player of the Year. He batted .284 while slugging 18 home runs and driving in 64 runs between Double-A Montgomery (85 games) and Triple-A Durham (47 games). The Wichita State product was also a Southern League midseason All-Star. After being promoted to AAA following the All-Star game, his 22 extra-base hits were tied for third in the International League. Gillaspie was drafted in the 1st round as the 20th overall pick by the Tampa Bay Rays in the 2014 MLB Draft. He played 1st base for the Express during 2012. Casey is the younger brother of Conor Gillaspie who had a spectacular postseason MLB season with the San Francisco Giants. The 23 year old Casey hopes to earn a promotion to the big leagues this spring and make his major league debut.
Brian Mundell was tabbed Southern Atlantic League Most Valuable Player. Mundell led the league in hits with 168 and set a new MILB record with 59 doubles. The Santa Clarita, CA native played three colligate seasons at Cal Poly, surprisingly never hitting more than 12 doubles in a season. This year for the Class-A Ashville Tourists he batted .313 which was good for second in the league. In addition to his MVP honor, he was also named the top first baseman in the league. Mundell had a .992 fielding percentage during the 2016 season. He was drafted in the 7th round by the Colorado Rockies in the 2015 draft. Mundell was the catcher for the Express during 2014 season. As always, the Express wish the best of luck to all of our alumni both on and off of the field.
Sponsorships, season tickets, 5-game packs, and group tickets are on sale now for the 2017 season. For more information call (715)839-7788. Individual game tickets will go on sale May 1st.
The Eau Claire Express 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, 160 former 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 (DET), Curtis Granderson (NYM), Lucas Duda (NYM) and Ben Zobrist (CHC). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League portal. For more information, visit www.eauclaireexpress.com or download the new Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play and set the Express as your favorite team.