Waterloo, IA – Former Waterloo Buck pitcher Zach Cooper will play in the Arizona Fall League during professional baseball’s off-season. Cooper will play for the Peoria Javelinas. Cooper
will join 27 other former Northwoods League players who will be competing over the next two months in Arizona against the top players in Minor League Baseball.
The right-handed hurler, who played with Waterloo in 2009 and 2010, was drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies in the 15th round of the 2012 MLB Amateur Entry Draft. Cooper made his way to the Tampa Bay Rays organization, playing for both the Charlotte Stone Crabs in the Single-A Florida State League and Rays’ Gulf Coast League team in Rookie ball in 2014. This past season, the Hartland, Michigan native had a combined 1-3 record and a 5.27 ERA with 25 strikeouts in 23 appearances.
A Central Michigan University product, Cooper appeared in 36 games for the Bucks, starting 10 games. Cooper finished his NWL career with a 4-8 record and a 5.56 ERA to go along with five saves and 79 strikeouts in 79.1 innings pitched. In 2009, Cooper appeared in 26 games, which is tied for the ninth-most in a single season in the Waterloo record books.
There are six teams in the Arizona Fall League: the Scottsdale Scorpions, Mesa Solar Sox, Salt River Rafters, Glendale Desert Dogs, Surprise Saguaros and Peoria. 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.
The Bucks 2014 season is complete, with the team finishing the year with the third-best record in the Northwoods League. The Bucks will be back in action in late-spring of 2015. The 2015 NWL schedule is expected to be released this fall. Fans are encouraged to stay in touch with the Bucks in the off-season by utilizing their website at www.waterloobucks.com.
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The Waterloo Bucks are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. Playing its 21st season of summer collegiate baseball, the Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 18 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 115 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (DET) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (CWS), Jordan Zimmermann (WAS), Curtis Granderson (NYM), Allen Craig (STL) and Ben Zobrist (TB). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League YouTube channel. For more information, visit www.waterloobucks.com.