Waterloo, Iowa – Former Waterloo Bucks Dakota Bacus, Shane Broyles, and Kevin Kaczmarski have all been placed on rosters in the Arizona Fall League during professional baseball’s off-season. Bacus will suit up for the Mesa Solar Sox, Broyles will play for the Salt River Rafters, and Kaczmarski will join the Scottsdale Scorpions.
Dakota Bacus,
a right-handed pitcher who played with Waterloo in 2011, was drafted by the Oakland Athletics in the ninth round of the 2012 MLB Amateur Entry Draft. Bacus was traded to the Washington Nationals organization in 2013, and played for both the Potomac Nationals in the Single-A Carolina League and the Harrisburg Senators in the Double-A Eastern League in 2017. This past season, the Moline, Illinois native had a combined 2-2 record and a 1.80 ERA with five saves and 33 strikeouts.
An Indiana State University product, Bacus appeared in 11 games for the Bucks, starting four. Bacus finished his Waterloo career with a 2-1 record, a 4.39 ERA, and 19 strikeouts in 26.2 innings pitched.
Right-handed hurler Shane Broyles
, who played for Waterloo in 2011, was taken in the 14th round of the 2012 MLB Draft by the Colorado Rockies. This past season, Broyles played for both the Hartford Yard Goats of the Eastern League and the Albuquerque Isotopes for the Triple-A Pacific Coast League. The Ft. Worth, Texas native had a combined 3-1 record with a 1.81 ERA, 21 saves, and 78 strikeouts in 2017. Broyles was named both a Mid-Season and Post-Season Eastern League All-Star with Hartford this season.
Broyles, who came to Waterloo from Seminole State College, finished his Bucks career with a 2-4 record and a 4.60 ERA with 54 strikeouts in nine games.
Kevin Kaczmarski
, who played for Waterloo in 2012 and 2014, suited up for the Binghamton Ruble Ponies in the Eastern League this past season. The outfielder hit .274 with five home runs, 52 RBI, and 15 stolen bases.
A product of the University of Evansville, Kaczmarski was a ninth round selection by New York in the 2015 MLB Draft. Kaczmarski garnered Roth Jewelers Player of the Year Awards in both of his seasons with the Bucks. In two years with the Waterloo, Kaczmarski hit .339 in 102 games, compiling 16 home runs, which ranks as the second most on the Bucks’ career list, 95 RBI, and 22 stolen bases.
Starting this week, nearly 30 former Northwoods League players will be competing over the next two months in Arizona against the top players in Minor League Baseball. Nearly 60 percent of AFL players will at some point make a Major League roster.
There are six teams in the Arizona Fall League: Scottsdale Scorpions, Mesa Solar Sox, Salt River Rafters, Glendale Desert Dogs, Peoria Javelinas, and the Surprise Saguaros. The teams are broken into two divisions, East and West and each Major League Baseball team sends six top prospects to the Arizona Fall League. Most of the players are Double-A and Triple-A Minor League players. Each team can choose to send one player considered a Class A player.
More information on the Arizona Fall League can be found here: Arizona Fall League
The Bucks play at Riverfront Stadium where the team welcomed a new state of the art video board in 2016 thanks to a matching grant from the Black Hawk County Gaming Association. Team ownership has invested more than $170,000 in improvements since the end of the 2014 season including painted bleachers, public Wi-Fi, sound system, group outing areas, and concessions equipment. Fans are encouraged to stay in touch during the off-season with the Bucks by utilizing their website at www.waterloobucks.com or utilizing the Northwoods League Mobile App.
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The Waterloo Bucks are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. The 23-year-old summer collegiate 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 180 former Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including two-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS), two-time World Series Champion Ben Zobrist (CHC) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (BOS), Jordan Zimmermann (DET), Curtis Granderson (NYM) and Lucas Duda (NYM). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League portal. For more information, visit http://www.waterloobucks.com or download the new Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play and set the Bucks as your favorite team.