The Eau Claire Express is a

collegiate summer baseball Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operat ...

team playing in the

Northwoods League The Northwoods League is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league. All players in the league must have NCAA eligibility remaining in order to participate. The league is amateur, and players are not paid, so as to maintain their college el ...

. Their home games are played at Carson Park, in

Eau Claire, Wisconsin Eau Claire (; ) (French for "clear water") is a city mostly located in Eau Claire County, Wisconsin, of which it is the county seat, and with a small portion in Chippewa County, Wisconsin. It had a population of 69,421 in 2020, making it the stat ...

. After two straight losing seasons in 2005 and 2006, the Eau Claire Express achieved many firsts during the 2007 season. The team won nine of its final ten regular season games to finish 42-26 overall and claim the 2007 2nd Half South Division title, their first regular season division title in franchise history and qualified for the Northwoods League playoffs, another franchise first. In the 2007, South Division Championship Series, they faced the 1st Half South Division Champion

Green Bay Bullfrogs The Green Bay Rockers are a baseball team that plays in the Northwoods League, a collegiate summer baseball league. The team joined the league as the Bullfrogs as an expansion franchise for the 2007 season along with the Battle Creek Bombers. Bef ...

. They won the series 2-1, claiming the 2007 South Division Pennant, another first in franchise history. In the 2007 Northwoods League Championship Series, they faced the North Division Champion St. Cloud River Bats and were swept 2-0 by the eventual Northwoods League Champions. The 2008 season ended with the Express missing the Northwoods League playoffs by 1.5 games. The Express finished the season one game below .500. The Express had one of their best seasons in 2009. They had a great first half, winning the NWL South Division to qualify for the playoffs. However, injuries and summer school depleted the squad in the second half. Eau Claire was eliminated in two games by the La Crosse Loggers in the Northwoods League Divisional round. In 2010, the Express won the first half of the season again with a 22-12 record. Via www.perfectgame.org, the Express have been ranked as high as #3 in the nation for summer collegiate baseball. The team closed out the 2010 season winning both halves. They followed this up by winning the NWL Championship and www.perfectgame.org ranked the Eau Claire Express the #1 summer collegiate team in the nation. The Express moved to the North Division for 2014, to accommodate the new NWL teams in

Kenosha, Wisconsin Kenosha () is a city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the seat of Kenosha County. Per the 2020 census, the population was 99,986 which made it the fourth-largest city in Wisconsin. Situated on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan, Kenos ...

and

Kalamazoo, Michigan Kalamazoo ( ) is a city in the southwest region of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is the county seat of Kalamazoo County. At the 2010 census, Kalamazoo had a population of 74,262. Kalamazoo is the major city of the Kalamazoo-Portage Metropolit ...

. The 2016, season saw the Express return to the Northwoods League postseason after winning the season's first half title. This was the first time the team had qualified for the playoffs since the 2010 season. Eau Claire opened the playoffs hosting the Mankato MoonDogs in the first round of the Divisional Playoffs at Carson Park. Despite having only a 1-7 record vs. Mankato in the regular season, Eau Claire was able to defeat the MoonDogs to advance. The next night the team traveled to St. Cloud, Minn. to face the second half champion Rox for a chance to play for the NWL Championship. After blowing a late lead, the Express were able to defeat the Rox in extra innings to win the North Division title. Awaiting the Express in the NWL Championship Series was the Wisconsin Rapids Rafters, the owners of the league's best regular season record. Eau Claire led game one by a run with two outs in the ninth inning at Witter Field in Wisconsin Rapids, Wis. before giving up a walk-off, two-run home run to lose. The Express would go on to lose game two the following night at Carson Park to end a successful season and concede the Northwoods League title to the Rafters. The title was the first in franchise history for Wisconsin Rapids, in their first trip to the postseason in seven seasons of play. Express Players to reach

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

Jordan Zimmermann Jordan M. Zimmermann (born May 23, 1986) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Washington Nationals, Detroit Tigers, and Milwaukee Brewers. Zimmermann was a two-time MLB All-Star, an ...

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Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

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, Texas Rangers *

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* Eddie Gamboa -

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* Nathan Orf -

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* Louis Head -

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* Michael Papierski -

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* Mark Hallberg (Coach) -

Justin Viele Justin Paul Viele (born November 13, 1990) is an American professional baseball hitting Coach (baseball), coach for the San Francisco Giants of Major League Baseball (MLB). He attended Santa Clara University. Viele was drafted by the Baltimore O ...

(Coach) -

Express players drafted in the 2007 MLB Draft: *

- RHP Washington Nationals * Thomas Eager- RHP St. Louis Cardinals * Evan Frey- OF Arizona Diamondbacks *

Ryan Tatusko Ryan P. Tatusko (born Match 27, 1985) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played for the Hanwha Eagles of the KBO League. Professional career Texas Rangers Tatusko was the Texas Rangers eighteen-round pick in the 2007 Major ...

- RHP Texas Rangers * Kraig Binick- OF Baltimore Orioles * Mark Hallberg- SS Arizona Diamondbacks * Russ Dixon- OF Houston Astros Express players drafted in the 2008 MLB Draft: * Shane Dyer- RHP Tampa Bay Rays * Jake Jefferies- C Tampa Bay Rays * Tim Huber- LHP Kansas City Royals * Bryan Frew- OF Philadelphia Phillies * David Cales- RHP Chicago Cubs * Chris Odegaard- RHP Minnesota Twins * Ryan O'Sullivan- SS/RHP San Francisco Giants * Eddie Gamboa- RHP Baltimore Orioles Express players drafted in the 2010 MLB Draft: *

– OF/LA Angels * Devin Lohman – SS/Cincinnati Reds * Rafael Neda – C/Milwaukee Brewers * Cole Nelson – LHP/Detroit Tigers * Brooks Pinckard – RHP/OF/Chicago Cubs * Pete Gehle – LHP/Chicago White Sox * DeMarcus Tidwell – OF/Cleveland Indians * Tyler Bremer – RHP/Chicago Cubs * Ryan Kiel – LHP/Seattle Mariners *

George Jensen George Jensen (August 9, 1878 – October 4, 1977) was an artist of Danish descent born in Port Clinton, Ohio. Jensen was best known for his Midwest and New England landscape and seascape oil paintings as well as for his artistic versatility pro ...

– RHP/Tampa Bay Rays Express players drafted in the 2012 MLB Draft: Express players drafted in the 2013 MLB Draft:2013-06-09 – Express well represented in MLB draft
, Eau Claire Express website.

References

External links

Northwoods League website
{{Wisconsinsports Northwoods League teams Sports in Eau Claire, Wisconsin Amateur baseball teams in Wisconsin Tourist attractions in Eau Claire County, Wisconsin