Following in the footsteps of current and former University of Minnesota Duluth baseball players, junior Gary Wilfahrt Jr. and sophomore Josh Foreman have signed to play for the Duluth Huskies of the Northwoods League.
After a brief stint with the Sioux Falls Canaries of the American Association Kyle Zweber has signed on with the Windy City Thunderbolts of the Frontier League.
Wilfahrt Jr., a 6-1, 210 pounder pitcher from New Ulm, Minn., finished his sophomore campaign last spring with an even 2-2 record and a 5.46 earned run average. The right-hander led the team with 17 appearances on the mound and struck out 30 batters in 31.1 innings of work.
Hailing from Shawano, Wis., Foreman started four games during his first season in a Bulldog uniform, and making a total of 13 appearances on the bump for head coach Bob Rients. The six-footer completed 28.2 innings, striking out 20 batters and recording one save.
"I'm excited for these two Bulldogs to have this opportunity to play for the hometown Duluth Huskies," Rients said. "This will be a great experience for them."
Numerous UMD hardballers have suited up for the Huskies, most recently current Bulldog seniors David Olson and John Vaudreuil, as well as Zweber in, last summer.
A member of the Northwoods League's North Division, the Huskies are comprised of collegians nationwide, with home games for the franchise held at Wade Stadium. Fourteen teams (seven in the North Division and seven in the South Division) compete in the Northwoods League, founded in 1994. The circuit utilizes wooden bats, MLB minor league specification baseballs and requires that all of its athletes must have NCAA eligibility still at their disposal.
The Frontier League is a independent professional baseball league established in 1992, with teams in the West Virginia, eastern Kentucky and southeast Ohio areas. The league has a total of 12 teams, with the Thunderbolts being a member of the West Division.
"The opportunities these current and former Bulldogs are experiencing this summer are payoffs to the hard work and competitive desires they possess," said Rients.
