This week in Catching Up with the Bucks, we are taking a look back at former Buck Nathan Stone. Stone played for the Bucks in 2002 while attending Eastern Illinois University. He is originally from Evansville, Indiana.

Stone played just one season for the Bucks but certainly left his mark with one of the more impressive seasons by a relief pitcher in Bucks history. In 26 appearances, all relief, Stone threw 41.2 innings and put up a 2.38 ERA. He had a 4-1 record and recorded five saves. The righty also had 24 strikeouts compared to just nine walks, good for a strikeout to walk ratio over two to one. This 2002 season was the last time the Bucks made the playoffs and also won the league. Nathan Stone was a big part of this.

After his time with the Bucks, Nathan Stone went to play in some independent leagues, playing in the Frontier League and the Northern League. He started off in the Frontier League, playing for the Kenosha Mammoths. He joined them in 2003 and played just a short stint there, pitching 5.2 innings in five appearances, giving up just one run. The following season he played for the Springfield/Ozark Ducks, where he made 33 relief appearances and put up an impressive ERA of just 2.23. In those 44.1 innings, he also put up a career high of 49 strikeouts with just 11 walks.

Stone continued to put up dominating numbers, including a 1.61 ERA in 44.2 innings in 2005, where appeared briefly with the Gary Southshore Railcats of the Northern League before returning to the Frontier League to play with the Evansville Otters. In 2006 with the Otters, Stone threw 32 innings with an ERA of 3.66. This helped lead his team to the Frontier League Championship. After the season, Stone retired from playing baseball.

Nathan Stone will always be remembered as a great Waterloo Bucks and we wish him the best in all that he does.