New bat puppy Luke, from Miller Heights K9 Academy, steals the show
Ashwaubenon, Wis.- The Green Bay Rockers hosted a First Pitch event with season ticket holders, partners, and host families on Wednesday, March 9th in the Club Level at Capital Credit Union Park. The First Pitch program featured new Rockers field manager Chris Krepline (krep-lean), who is the head baseball coach at Lawrence University, the unveiling of new team uniforms as well as new team mascot Rhodie. Everyone in attendance also enjoyed meeting a new member of the team, bat puppy Luke, who is being trained into the role this year by Lindsay Johnson of Miller Heights K9 Academy in Green Bay.
Krepline, who is about to enter his fourth season as the Head Coach at Lawrence University, led the team to the third-highest win total in school history a season ago. He spoke about his pitching background and focus on that aspect of the game for the Rockers, the assistant coaches that will join him in the dugout this summer, and some of the relationships he has forged with different baseball programs around the country to put this year’s team together.
New team uniforms were unveiled with a home jersey and pants featuring royal blue pinstripes, road royal blue jersey and grey pants with a royal stripe, and an alternate jersey designed by Rockers graphic designer Alyssa Halverson. The unique, alternate jersey features the guitar with baseball laces that is incorporated into the primary team logo around the left shoulder with the guitar neck extending down the left pant leg, acting as the stripe of the pant. The Rockers will wear both the pinstripes and alternate jersey at Capital Credit Union Park throughout the summer.
In addition to the uniforms, the team also introduced fans to team mascot, Rhodie. For those unfamiliar with the entertainment industry, the road crew, or roadies, are support personnel who travel with a band on tour, usually handling every part of the concert productions except for performing music with the musicians. Director of Partnerships Brian Kuklinski told the story of how Rhodie always wanted to be a performer but ended up getting stuck as a roadie—until now. At each Rockers home game, Rhodie will have an opportunity to take stage and entertain the crowd every night while living out his dream.
To close out the program, a new member of the team was introduced to fans—bat puppy Luke! Luke is a chocolate lab that is being trained into the role this year by Lindsay Johnson of Miller Heights K9 Academy in Green Bay. He’ll be close to six months old by the time Opening Day arrives but will be in-training during the season and the team can’t wait to watch his development into a true professional.
Season ticket packages, group tickets and the ever-popular Fleet Farm Flex Packs are available now. The Fleet Farm Flex Pack includes six tickets that can also be used for any games during the summer along with a $50 Capital Credit Union Park gift card, $10 Fleet Farm gift card and much more. Visit www.greenbayrockers.com or call the ticket office at 920-497-7225 to reserve your seats today. The Rockers front office and Team Apparel Fan Shop at Capital Credit Union Park are located at 2231 Holmgren Way in Ashwaubenon. Office hours are Monday-Friday 8:30am-5pm.
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The Green Bay Rockers are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. Having completed its 28th 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 270 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 Max Scherzer (LAD), two-time World Series Champions Ben Zobrist and Brandon Crawford (SFG) and World Series Champion Chris Sale (BOS). As well as 2019 Rookie of the Year and 2019/2021 Home Run Derby Champion Pete Alonso (NYM) and 2021 All-Star, MLB Gold Glove finalist and 2019 Second Team All-MLB shortstop Marcus Semien (TOR). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League website at watchnwl.com. For more information, visit www.greenbayrockers.com or download the Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play and set the Rockers as your favorite team.