St. Cloud, MN – As the World Baseball Classic begins today, there are two former Rox players who will be competing in this event. Ben DeLuzio (16’) will be playing for Italy and Pedro Garcia (19’) will play for Columbia. The tournament features professional players from the major leagues around the world, including Major League Baseball. In addition to providing a format for the best baseball players in the world to compete against one another while representing their home countries, the World Baseball Classic was created to further promote the game around the globe.

Ben DeLuzio is currently in the Chicago Cubs minor league system where he is assigned to the Iowa Cubs, their Triple-A Affiliate. In 2016 for the Rox, DeLuzio hit his way into a .368 average and had a .500 on base percentage while scoring six runs. He made his MLB debut on September 2^nd, 2022 for the St. Louis Cardinals.

Pedro Garcia is currently in the Cincinnati Reds minor league system playing for the Louisville Bats, their Triple-A Affiliate. In 2019, Garcia pitched 13.1 innings over nine games where he struck out 22 batters and didn’t allow a single earned run. He has played in 87 minor league games where he has struck out 153 batters over 124.2 innings with a career 2.96 ERA.

The Rox will return in 2023 for their 12th season of Northwoods League baseball.  The home opener is scheduled for June 2nd versus the La Crosse Loggers presented by Coborn’s.  There will be a huge post-game fireworks show.  For more information regarding this release, season tickets and partial season ticket packages for the 2023 season including Kwik Trip Mini Plans, please contact the Rox office at 320-240-9798 or visit www.stcloudrox.com