Every week, we like to catch up with a former Buck player.  This week, we’re catching up with former Waterloo Buck Matt Cepicky.  Matt played for the Bucks during the 1997 season for the Bucks and was primarily platooned in the outfield. He was born in St. Louis, Missouri and played High School ball at Vianney in Kirkwood, Missouri.  During his time with the Bucks, Cepicky attended Missouri State University.  The left handed hitter stood 6’2" and weighed 215lbs but threw right handed. 

In 1997, Matt put up some solid numbers for the Bucks.  He played in 60 total games and achieved a .342 batting average with 83 hits.  In those hits, he had 18 doubles, 3 triples, 10 home runs, 53 runs batted in, and 6 stolen bases.  

Cepicky was drafted by the Montreal Expos in the 1999 Amateur Draft (4th round, #120 overall).  It only took three years in the minors for Cepicky to make an appearance in the majors.  In 2002, Cepicky made his MLB appearance on July 31 and played in a total of 32 games during that season for the Expos.  Throughout his time in the majors, he was bounced back and forth between teams.  After playing for the Expos and the Nationals (after the move) he made a few appearances with the Florida Marlins and the Baltimore Orioles. 

Overall in the majors, Cepicky appeared in 89 games.  He had a .211 batting average with 11 doubles, 4 home runs, 21 runs batted in, 7 walks, 53 strike outs, and 1 stolen base. 

In the minors, Matt had played in 962 games and had a .277 batting average.  In 983 hits, he had 199 doubles, 38 triples, 111 home runs, 585 runs batted in, 278 walks, 730 strike outs, and 67 stolen bases.  

After playing for the Orioles farm system in 2007, Matt decided to hang up the glove and call it a career.  Matt Cepicky will always be recognized as a Waterloo Buck, and we wish him the best in his future endeavors.

Every week, we like to catch up with a former Waterloo Bucks baseball player.  This week, we’re catching up with former pitcher Jeff Mault.  Jeff was born in Goshen, Indiana and played High School ball at West Noble in Ligonier, Indiana.  While playing for the Bucks in 2002, Mault attended Austin Peay State University.  Jeff is a right handed, 6’0”, and 158lb reliever

In the championship year of 2002, Jeff appeared in 6 games with a 1-1 record.  In those 6 games, Mault had a 2.71 ERA with 7 walks, 7 strikeouts, in 15.2 innings pitched.  Even though Mault appeared in only 6 games for the Bucks in 2002, he was an important part of the championship winning team. 

After playing for the Bucks, Jeff went on to get signed as a free agent in 2005 by the Seattle Mariners.  In his only year in the minor league system for the Mariners, he played for the Everett Aqua Sox and the Inland Empire 66ers for a total of 19 games.  Even though it was his only year in the Mariner’s system, Jeff decided to play another two years in the independent leagues before calling it a career.

In his year in the minors, Jeff posted a 3.51 ERA with a 0-1 record, 17 walks, and 18 strike outs in 26 innings pitched.  He had similar stats for his time spent in the inedpendent league as well.

Jeff Mault will always be recognized as a Waterloo Buck, and we all wish him the best in his future endeavors.