Heading into the 2017 season, the Kalamazoo Growlers were looking for their fourth manager in four years.
Then the phone rang.
On the other end was Chris Sabo, a three-time MLB All-Star and 1990 World Series champion with the Cincinnati Reds. Sabo was interested in becoming the next manager of the Growlers.
For a summer collegiate baseball team entering just its fourth season, having a former Major League All-Star and World Series champion interested in the job was a pretty big deal.
But the Growlers went in a different direction.
Chris Sabo on the Cover of Sports Illustrated Magazine in October, 1990
Instead, they gave the job to Cody Piechocki, an assistant coach who had been with the organization since its first season and had spent years waiting for an opportunity to lead.
The decision would eventually help change the direction of the franchise.
Piechocki’s path to Kalamazoo actually began a year before the Growlers existed. In the summer of 2013, he was an assistant coach for the Battle Creek Bombers, working as an unpaid volunteer while trying to build a career in baseball.
When the Growlers arrived in Kalamazoo in 2014, Piechocki came with them and joined the coaching staff for the inaugural season. Over the next three years, he served as an assistant under three different managers, beginning with legendary college baseball coach Joe Carbone in 2014.
Through three different managers, Piechocki remained a constant.
After three seasons as an assistant, he felt he was ready for an opportunity to lead a team himself. Heading into 2017, Piechocki sat down with the Growlers front office and made his intentions clear. He wanted to stay in Kalamazoo and become the Growlers’ manager, but if that opportunity wasn’t available, he knew he would eventually have to look elsewhere to take the next step in his career.
That conversation came around the same time Sabo expressed interest in the position.
The Growlers had a choice. They could bring in an established Major League name, or give an opportunity to someone who had been with the organization from the beginning and spent years working toward the job.
Legendary former Growler and Ohio Bobcat Manager, Joe Carbone bids the crowd farewell before the start of his last regular season home game before retirement. Carbone finished his 24th and final season with Ohio in 2012. (Robin Hecker | File Photo)
They chose Cody.
Piechocki was named manager of the Kalamazoo Growlers ahead of the 2017 season.
Success didn’t come immediately. His first season was a difficult one, and the Growlers went through plenty of growing pains during his first few years in charge. Piechocki continued to adjust, learn and build the program the way he believed it should be built.
Over time, the results followed.
The Growlers developed into consistent contenders in the Northwoods League, and in 2022, Piechocki led Kalamazoo to its first Northwoods League Championship. Two years later, the Growlers did it again, winning their second championship in 2024.
By the end of the 2026 season, Kalamazoo had finished .500 or better in five consecutive seasons and eight of Piechocki’s nine seasons as manager. He now sits fifth all-time in Northwoods League regular-season wins, while his 10 postseason victories are tied for fifth in league history.
Cody Piechocki celebrates with his team after winning his second Northwoods League Championship in 2024
His impact can also be seen beyond Kalamazoo.
Piechocki managed 13 of the first 15 former Growlers to reach Major League Baseball and has coached a long list of players who have continued their careers professionally, including highly rated prospects like Boston Red Sox infielder Henry Godbout.
Now, nearly a decade after the Growlers first gave him the opportunity, Piechocki isn’t going anywhere.
Following the 2026 season, the Growlers signed Piechocki to a two-year extension that will keep him in Kalamazoo through the 2028 season.
Henry Godbout, Boston Red Sox #6 prospect according to MLB.com, playing second base for the Growlers in 2023.
“Cody has been a huge part of what we’ve built here in Kalamazoo,” Growlers owner Brian Colopy said. “The consistency we’ve had on the field speaks for itself, but what Cody brings to this organization goes well beyond wins and losses. He’s built a culture that players want to be a part of, and we’re excited to continue having him lead the Growlers.”
What started with an unpaid assistant coaching position in Battle Creek has turned into one of the most successful managerial runs in Northwoods League history.
Back in 2017, the Growlers had the opportunity to put a World Series champion in the dugout. Instead, they chose the assistant coach who had been putting in the work behind the scenes since before the franchise played its first game.
Two championships later, that decision has worked out pretty well.
