{"id":371,"date":"2024-10-01T21:01:24","date_gmt":"2024-10-02T01:01:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/rochester-honkers\/?page_id=371"},"modified":"2026-02-06T15:46:15","modified_gmt":"2026-02-06T20:46:15","slug":"coaching-staff","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/kalamazoo-growlers\/coaching-staff\/","title":{"rendered":"Coaching Staff"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/span><\/div>

The Northwoods League<\/h1>\n

The league draws some of the top up-and-coming coaching talent from across the country who are looking to develop themselves, just like the players, into the future stars of the college and professional coaching ranks.<\/p>\n

The Northwoods League has become a hotbed for excellent coaching.<\/p>\n

Many of the league\u2019s coaches were once MLB and Minor League Baseball players and coaches including Twins star Al Newman, Donnie Scott, Duffy Dyer and former skipper for the New York Mets, Terry Collins.<\/p>\n<\/div>

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<\/span><\/div>

CODY PIECHOKI – FIELD MANAGER<\/b><\/h4>\n<\/div>

Piechocki’s has been the Growlers manager since 2015 and in the Northwoods League since 2013.<\/p>\n

Piechocki received his start in the Northwoods League in 2013 with the Battle Creek Bombers as an assistant coach before joining Kalamazoo for its inaugural season in 2014.<\/p>\n

Piechocki claimed his first Northwoods League title in 2022 and became one of just three coaches in Northwoods League history to win multiple titles after capturing his second in 2024.<\/p>\n

Piechocki took over as the Growlers’ manager during the 2016 season and has only seen growth ever since.<\/p>\n

Piechocki stands fifth in the Northwoods League in career wins, holding a regular and postseason record of 319-300 (.515).<\/p>\n

In his tenure, Piechocki has brought the Growlers to the postseason each of the last three seasons and five of the past six.<\/p>\n

In the last two seasons, Piechocki has helped the Growlers achieve its best two regular season records in franchise history.<\/p>\n

In his nine seasons as manager, Piechocki has tutored the likes of 59 players who have either been drafted or signed by a major league team including seven who have made their major league debuts.<\/p>\n

Along with his time with the Growlers, Piechocki coached 12 seasons at Kalamazoo Valley Community College including nine as the head coach.<\/p>\n

Other stops include assistant coaching jobs at Mattawan High School and Kalamazoo College.<\/p>\n

The Kalamazoo native, Piechocki is a graduate of both Mattawan High School and Western Michigan University.<\/p>\n

For player placement questions and requests, please fill out the online form here.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

<\/span><\/div>

GREG WRIGHT – PITCHING COACH<\/b><\/h4>\n<\/div>

Coach Greg Wright is a National Pitching Association (NPA), associate coach based out of the Great Lakes area in Kalamazoo. He has been an NPA coach since 2006. He is also a<\/p>\n

Certified Arm Care Specialist, Certified Functional Strength Coach, Resistance<\/p>\n

Band Training Certified, and has his Masters in Physical Education.<\/p>\n

Greg played baseball at Lake Michigan College and Iowa State University as a<\/p>\n

catcher. He was also the varsity baseball coach at Mattawan from 1991-2004.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

<\/span><\/div>

EAMON HORWEDEL – ASSISTANT COACH<\/b><\/h4>\n<\/div>

Eamon Horwedel was born and raised in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and graduated from Skyline High School in 2018 after being a four-year varsity baseball member. He was also named to the MHSBCA All-Star game during his senior year. After high school, he attended Ohio University for four years (2018\u20132022), where he pitched for the Bobcats while earning a bachelor\u2019s degree in chemical engineering. With two years of eligibility remaining, he graduate-transferred to the University of Michigan, where he pitched for another two years (2022\u20132024) while earning a master\u2019s degree in social work with a focus on management and leadership.<\/p>\n

In between college seasons, Eamon played in the Northwoods League for the Kalamazoo Growlers for five seasons, spanning from 2019 to 2024. During his time in Kalamazoo, he was a three-time captain, two-time All-Star, two-time postseason All-Star, and two-time Northwoods League champion. He currently holds several records, including the Northwoods League all-time wins record. In August 2024, he became the second player to be inducted into the Kalamazoo Growlers Hall of Fame. By the end of his playing career, he had totaled over 350 collegiate innings pitched across more than 130 games.<\/p>\n

Eamon is extremely passionate about the game of baseball. When he was playing, all he ever wanted to do was compete. Now that he is retired from playing, his greatest desire is to instill the same passion and love for the game into others through coaching.<\/p>\n

Eamon\u2019s passions outside of baseball include golfing, rock climbing, birding, photography, watching movies, and doing trivia.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

<\/span><\/div>

TJ Marik<\/b> – ASSISTANT COACH<\/b><\/h4>\n<\/div>

TJ Marik joined the Siena Heights University baseball coaching staff in June 2025. Marik comes to Siena Heights from Missouri Valley College. Marik was a Graduate Assistant at Missouri Valley from Fall 2020 to Fall of 2021. In the Spring of 2022, Marik took over as the Interim Head Coach. Marik was then promoted to the Full Time Head Coach following the Spring 2022 season. In Marik\u2019s tenure, Missouri Valley had eight All-Conference players, and two Heart of America Gold-Glove winners. There were also two All-Time records broken under Marik in the 2024 season at Missouri Valley. Ivory Daniels broke the Career Hits Record with 202. Dieterich Guertzgen broke the Career Strikeout Record with 212. <\/p>\n

Marik graduated from Northern Kentucky University in Highland Heights, Ky. in December 2018 with a degree in Organizational Leadership after being named to the Johnny Bench Award Watch List in 2018. Before joining the Norse, the former Division-I catcher started his collegiate career at Austin Peay State University in Tennessee. Marik has also received his master\u2019s degree in Educational Administration at Missouri Valley College. <\/p>\n

Marik\u2019s college coaching career also includes stops at Saint Leo University and Roosevelt University. He was the head coach of Top Tier Baseball from May 2018 to June 2019 and has prior summer baseball experience as an assistant coach for the Rockford Rivets of the Northwoods League during the 2019 and 2020 seasons. <\/p>\n

Marik coached a pair of all-conference second team honorees while serving as the top assistant coach at Roosevelt in 2019. He spent the COVID-shortened 2020 season as the first base coach at Saint Leo. Marik joined the Rockford Rivets in 2019 as the hitting and catching coach and helped lead the team to a 33-win season, the second highest victory total in franchise history. He returned for a second season in 2020 and helped the Rivets shatter the Northwoods League record for runs scored in a game (28). The team was ranked as the fifth-best summer collegiate team by D1Baseball.com. He instructed four top 150 college draft prospects during the 2020 summer. Marik has worked with 11 draft picks, and 10 professional signees. <\/p>\n

In the summer of 2021, Marik managed the Northwest Indiana Oilmen of the Midwest Collegiate league. While doing so, Marik\u2019s Oilmen claimed the regular season title with a 24-11 record, which is tied for the Oilmen\u2019s winning percentage record, and won their opening round playoff series in order to advance to the championship series.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

For player placement questions and requests, please click to fill out the online form below.<\/b><\/h3>\n<\/div>
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