The Rockford Rivets welcome five local players to the 2018 roster. Rivets’ manager Brian Smith looks forward to having some local talent on the team as they look to build off of their Northwoods League Playoff appearance from last year.

The five players are listed below:

Nolan Gazouski, RHP/3B, Ball State

Adrian Marquez, OF, Wright State University

Nathan Schneiderman, LHP, University of Dubuque

Anthony Holubecki, RHP, Notre Dame

J.T. Baksha, LHP, Western Illinois University

 

Nolan Gazouski

 Gazouski is a Rockford, Ill. native who’s joining the Rockford Rivets for the 2018 season. He splits time between pitching and third base for the Ball State Cardinals 31-24, (17-10 conference). When on the mound, Gazouski is 3-3 with a 3.05 ERA and 2 saves in 24 appearances. He’s struck out 61 batters on the season while only giving up one home run and one extra-base hit in 41.1 innings pitched, holding opposing hitters to a .169 batting average. His ERA is the best for any Cardinal pitcher with 10 plus innings. Gazouski has a 13.3 K/9 ratio and has 24 K’s than BB’s. He also has a 1.48 WHIP. Prior to Ball State Gazouski played a season at Ranger College.

Smith on Gazouski- “Nolan is another local kid who should be an exciting player for us. His fastball has been as high as 94 this spring and his ability to pitch to weak contact is evident in his Opponents’ batting average.”

Adrian Marquez

 Marquez is from Roscoe, Ill. and was born in Rockford. He plays his college ball at Wright State University where he’s a junior outfielder. The Raiders have a 36-15 record (22-6 conference). He’s seen action in 19 games this season, starting one. In 2017 he appeared in 59 games starting 56. He hit .261 (57-218), he also added 11 stolen bases. He ended the season on a four-game hitting streak. This is Marquez first season on the Rivets and in the Northwoods League.

Smith on Marquez- “Adrian is a Rockford native who we are excited to bring home for the summer. Adrian has seen time as a pitcher and an outfielder in his time at Wright St. A left-handed bat and a power bullpen arm is always a good combo.  We are hoping that Adrian can come in and try to regain the success he had spring 2017.”

Nathan Schneiderman

 Schneiderman is from German Valley, Ill playing for the University of Dubuque where they are the 2018 Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Champions going 23-15. He is a junior left-handed pitcher where he is 3-4 with a 3.18 ERA striking out 55 in 39.2 innings. As a sophomore in 2017, Schneiderman was First Team All-Iowa Conference, D3baseball.com First Team All-Central Region, and D3baseball.com Honorable Mention All-American. He posted an ERA of 0.47 in 38 innings pitched with 5 saves, he held opposing batters to a .145 average.

Smith on Schneiderman- “Nate comes highly recommended from 2017 Rivet, Chase Kueter. Nate, 2017 Division 3 All American closer, will come in with a chip on his shoulder to prove that he can compete with some of the top offensive players in all of college baseball. He’s a huge LHP so I can only imagine he’s a nightmare for left-handed hitters.”

Anthony Holubecki

 Holubecki is a Right-handed pitcher joining the Rivets for the 2018 season. He attends Notre Dame and is from Elburn, Ill. He was named to the ACC Academic Honor Roll in 2017. In 2018 he’s 3-2 for the Fighting Irish striking out 19 batters on the season.

Smith on Holubecki- “Notre Dame considers Anthony to be a major part of their bullpen. You can never have too many back end of the bullpen guys.  When Anthony is in the zone, he will have a lot of success.”

J.T. Baksha

 Baksha is a native of Oswego, Ill. He’s a left-handed pitcher who played for the Madison Mallards last season. He appeared in four games pitching 5.1 innings and striking out two. He attends Western Illinois University where he’s 1-0. He’s made 10 appearances striking out 14 and holding batters to a .258 average.

Smith on Baksha- “JT has had an up and down college career. He has started, been a long reliever, a left-handed specialist, and even a closer. We will find a way to put JT in the position to be successful. He is eager to get started and as a junior, we will rely on him to be a leader on the field and in the clubhouse.”

Tickets for the Rockford Rivets are available for purchase, including our 5-Game Pack which now costs only $60. Tickets can be purchased by calling the Rivets’ Ticket Office at (815) 240-4159.

The Rockford Rivets are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. Entering its 25th anniversary season, the Northwoods 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, more than 185 former Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS), two-time World Series Champions Ben Zobrist (CHC) and Brandon Crawford (SFG) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (BOS), Jordan Zimmermann (DET) and Curtis Granderson (TOR).  All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League portal. For more information, visit www.rockfordrivets.com or download the new Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play and set the Rivets as your favorite team.