{"id":21103,"date":"2025-05-23T16:04:48","date_gmt":"2025-05-23T16:04:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/eau-claire-express\/?p=21103"},"modified":"2025-05-23T16:07:42","modified_gmt":"2025-05-23T16:07:42","slug":"new-look-express-gear-up-for-2025-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/eau-claire-express\/2025\/05\/23\/new-look-express-gear-up-for-2025-season\/","title":{"rendered":"New-Look Express Gear Up for 2025 Season"},"content":{"rendered":"

Following a record-shattering 2024 campaign, the newly rebranded Eau Claire Express return to Carson Park for their 20th year of Northwoods League baseball.<\/span><\/p>\n

Manager Dale Varsho and pitching coach Vic Cable return to lead the Express through the NWL gauntlet once again. The duo has been at the helm for the entirety of the team\u2019s existence and they are the winningest coaches in league history with over 650 victories to their name.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Express set new team records for home runs (74), runs (505), RBIs (443) and slugging percentage (.401) last summer as the offense brought fireworks to stadiums across the Midwest. Despite the explosive offense, Eau Claire failed to reach the postseason for the first time in three seasons. Varsho will be looking to lead the Express back to mid-August baseball with a revamped 2025 roster.<\/span><\/p>\n

Five players return for a second season in Eau Claire while the rest of the squad will be filled with fresh faces.<\/span><\/p>\n

Two-way player Jake Busson (University of Illinois Chicago) is back for more Carson Park homers after a strong sophomore year at Iowa Central CC. The Hudson, Wisc., native looks to improve on his impressive 2024 summer before heading off to University of Illinois Chicago for the back half of his college career.<\/span><\/p>\n

Right-handed pitcher Zach Diver (Doane) returns to the mound for the Express after throwing 25.1 innings a year ago including three starts. The Doane hurler\u2019s command of the strike zone could prove crucial for Eau Claire as Diver walked just six batters last summer.<\/span><\/p>\n

Carrying a 3-0 record as a starting pitcher last summer, Jace Kirby (Walters State CC) returns to the Express for another season on the bump. Fans may remember his impressive outing against Waterloo in mid-July last season as the Walters State product went 7.2 innings, surrendering no earned runs on just four hits in a 2-1 victory.<\/span><\/p>\n

Southpaw Zach Lyles (Western Kentucky) returns as well, as the Fairmount, Ga., native started four games for the Express in 2024. Coming out of the bullpen for a very talented Western Kentucky team, Lyles recorded 19 appearances in his sophomore season. The 21-year-old could prove to be a valuable arm for Eau Claire this summer.<\/span><\/p>\n

Finally, outfielder George Bilecki is back for more with the Express after a monstrous junior season at Lewis. He played just 18 games for Eau Claire last season but enjoyed a breakout collegiate campaign, hitting .357 at the plate with 23 home runs and 65 runs batted in. His 1.229 OPS was good for second in the Great Lakes Valley Conference. Bilecki is looking to stay hot as he makes his summer ball return.<\/span><\/p>\n

While the baseball schedule is full of exciting matchups, the promotional schedule is packed with exclusive giveaways, post-game concerts, unique theme nights and more. There is no better way to spend a summer evening than under the lights at Carson Park, so get your tickets now and don\u2019t miss out on the fun!<\/span><\/p>\n

###<\/p>\n

The Eau Claire Express are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. The Northwoods League is the proven leader in the development of elite college baseball players. Entering its 32<\/span><\/i>nd<\/span><\/i> season, the Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in history with 24 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, nearly 2400 NWL alums have been drafted and over 380 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including three-time All-Star and 2016 Roberto Clemente Award winner Curtis Granderson, three-time Cy Young Award winner and World Series Champion Max Scherzer (TOR), two-time World Series Champions Ben Zobrist and Brandon Crawford and World Series Champion Chris Sale (ATL). As well as 2019 Rookie of the Year and 2019\/2021 Home Run Derby Champion Pete Alonso (NYM) and 2023 World Series Champion, MLB All-Star, MLB Gold Glove, two-time Silver Slugger winner and two-time All-MLB first team shortstop Marcus Semien (TEX). League games are viewable live on Northwoods League+ (at <\/span><\/i>watch.northwoodsleague.com<\/span><\/i><\/a>), ESPN+, and the Northwoods League Network.\u00a0 Learn more and find complete streaming schedules at <\/span><\/i>watchnwl.com<\/span><\/i><\/a>. For more information, visit <\/span><\/i>www.eauclaireexpress.com<\/span><\/i><\/a> 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.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Following a record-shattering 2024 campaign, the newly rebranded Eau Claire Express return to Carson Park for their 20th year of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":21104,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[45,126,27,43,40],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21103","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-permanentslider","category-permanentslider-team-news","category-league-news","category-team-news","category-update-ticker-all-categories"],"yoast_head":"\nNew-Look Express Gear Up for 2025 Season - Eau Claire Express<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/eau-claire-express\/2025\/05\/23\/new-look-express-gear-up-for-2025-season\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"New-Look Express Gear Up for 2025 Season\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Following a record-shattering 2024 campaign, the newly rebranded Eau Claire Express return to Carson Park for their 20th year of [...]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/eau-claire-express\/2025\/05\/23\/new-look-express-gear-up-for-2025-season\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Eau Claire Express\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-05-23T16:04:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-05-23T16:07:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/assets.northwoodsleague.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/05\/PreSeasonPressReleaseGraphic.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1178\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"750\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin-eau\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin-eau\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/eau-claire-express\/2025\/05\/23\/new-look-express-gear-up-for-2025-season\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/eau-claire-express\/2025\/05\/23\/new-look-express-gear-up-for-2025-season\/\",\"name\":\"New-Look Express Gear Up for 2025 Season - 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