{"id":19356,"date":"2026-05-22T09:00:56","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T13:00:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/royal-oak-leprechauns\/?p=19356"},"modified":"2026-05-21T22:39:31","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T02:39:31","slug":"the-royal-oak-leprechauns-announce-the-2026-opening-day-roster","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/royal-oak-leprechauns\/2026\/05\/22\/the-royal-oak-leprechauns-announce-the-2026-opening-day-roster\/","title":{"rendered":"The Royal Oak Leprechauns announce the 2026 Opening Day roster"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><b>ROYAL OAK, Mich. <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u2013 With the Northwoods League opening day around the corner, the Royal Oak Leprechauns have announced their 2026 Opening Day roster. The roster features players yielding from schools across Michigan and around the country.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The roster includes players from conferences including the Big Ten Conference, Southeastern Conference, Mid-American Conference, Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, Atlantic Coast Conference, Ivy League, and Big 12 Conference.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The combination of returners and newcomers will allow for the 2026 season to serve as a foundation for what\u2019s to come. This roster brings a variety of skills and experiences from both pitchers and position players alike.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cWe have a lot of quality baseball players with the proper mix of skills and experience on this team,\u201d said Field Manager DJ LaMaheiu.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The list of players returning to Royal Oak includes Detroit Catholic Central graduate and Oakland University sophomore catcher and outfielder Aidan Schuck. In 2025, Schuck set the Leprechauns\u2019 franchise record for consecutive games with a hit, tallying a 19-game hit streak At Oakland, Schuck made 46 starts and batte<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">d .277 across 177 at bats. The Leprechauns coaching staff is looking forward to having Schuck as a full-contract player this summer.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Leprechauns also welcome back Eastern Michigan University\u2019s Tristan Crane. In his first season with the Leprechauns, Crane proved to be an effective contributor both in the infield and at the plate. The Brother Rice graduate and Berkley, Mich. native batted a .306 at EMU while maintaining a .986 fielding percentage across 31 starts.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The returning group also includes Villanova graduate student outfielder Patrick Ilitch. In 2025, Ilitch hit .<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">282 with a .481 on-base percentage and .815 OPS. Unlike last summer, Patrick will have the opportunity to share the field with his younger brother, Blake, who is a freshman pitcher at the University of Mississippi.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cIt\u2019s hard in summer ball to get guys to come back; it makes me excited to have so many returners,\u201d said <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">returning coach Chris Faust.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">New to the Leprechauns in 2026 is Ohio Northern\u2019s Drew Tolfree. Tolfree was recently named the Ohio Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Year after going 7-0 on the mound and maintaining a 1.64 ERA \u2013 the lowest in the conference. He also recorded 75 strikeouts across 65.2 innings pitched. The coaching staff hopes to see Tolfree start on the mound Opening Day.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>The full Opening Day roster can be viewed\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/royal-oak-leprechauns\/roster\/\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The team will open up their season at home on Monday, May 25, 2026 at 6:35 p.m. ET. Tickets can be purchased on the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/royal-oak-leprechauns.nwltickets.com\/SingleGame\/Tickets?_gl=1*ls21wn*_gcl_au*MTg0MzE3MzUyNC4xNzc5MzM3MDUx*_ga*OTQ0MjY5OTc2LjE3NzkzMzcwNDI.*_ga_W1Q4YW3442*czE3NzkzMzcwNDIkbzEkZzEkdDE3NzkzMzcwNDgkajU0JGwwJGgw\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">team&#8217;s website<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> or at the gate. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Fans can also <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">follow the team across all social platforms to stay up to date.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>About\u00a0 Royal Oak Leprechauns:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> The Royal Oak Leprechauns are a member of the Northwoods League, a leading summer collegiate baseball organization in North America. Based in Royal Oak, Michigan, the team is committed to player development, community engagement, and delivering a professional-level experience throughout the summer season.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>ROYAL OAK, Mich. \u2013 With the Northwoods League opening day around the corner, the Royal Oak Leprechauns have announced their  [&#8230;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":166,"featured_media":19357,"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":[24,26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19356","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-game-day","category-team-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.5 (Yoast SEO v26.5) - 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