St. Cloud Rox (collegiate summer baseball)


The St. Cloud Rox are a baseball team that play in the Northwoods League, a collegiate summer baseball league. Their home games are played at the Joe Faber Field in St. Cloud, Minnesota.

Beginnings in Dubuque

The franchise was one of the five founding members of the league in 1994 and was located in Dubuque, Iowa. The team was nicknamed the Mud Puppies. They played in Dubuque from 1994 to 1996, struggling financially despite strong backing from the business community.
Three seasons in Dubuque yielded three future MLB players: Jeff Weaver, Shawn Sedlacek, and Robb Quinlan. Weaver became the first Northwoods League alum to appear in the majors when he debuted with the Detroit Tigers in 1999.

Return of baseball to St. Cloud

St. Cloud, Minnesota has hosted baseball for decades at a variety of play levels. Baseball returned to the city in 1997 in the Northwoods League with the relocation of the Mud Puppies. With the move came a new name for the team, the St. Cloud River Bats.
The River Bats were a premier team in the Northwoods League, winning 3 league championships, one North Division overall championship, and 3 First Half North Division pennants.

Return of the Rox

In February 2012, the Northwoods League sold the team rights to a local interest group while reserving the rights to the name and logo. The St. Cloud franchise played the 2012 season as the St. Cloud Rox, hearkening back to the minor league team that played in the city from 1946 to 1971.

Radio broadcasts

Rox games can be heard on 1390 Granite City Sports. Aspiring Broadcasters from colleges across the United States have served as the voice of Rox Baseball over the years.

St. Cloud players in MLB

The following is a list of former Rox or River Bats who have played in Major League Baseball.
NameYear with St. CloudMLB accolades
Drew Avans2017
Austin Barnes2010World Series champion
Chris Başak1998/1999
Buddy Baumann2007
Michael Busch2017
Mark Canha2008
Alex Carrillo2019
Will Craig2014
Ben DeLuzio2016
Chris Demaria2000/2001
Thomas Diamond2002/2003
Cam Eden2017
Steve Edlefsen2004
Jay Flaa2013
TJ Friedl2016
Mitch Garver2010/2011World Series Champion, Silver Slugger
John Gaub2004
Lucas Gilbreath2015
Tom Gorzelanny2001
Justin Huisman1998/1999
Chris Jakubauskas1999
Jason Jaramillo2002
Sean Kazmar2003
Otto Kemp2021
Roger Kieschnick2006
Brice Matthews2021/2022
Alex McRae2013
Ben Meyer2012
Casey McGehee2001NL Rookie of the Month
Zach Pop2015
Robb Quinlan1998AL Rookie of the Month
Tony Renda2009
Konrad Schmidt2003/2005
Daniel Schneemann2017
Bob Seymour2018
Jake Smith2011
Josh Smith2010
Jared Solomon2017
Dan Straily2009
Josh Taylor2014
Will Warren2018
Robbie Weinhardt2007
Jason Wheeler2010
Jack Winkler2020/2021