Mark Daniel Kolozsvary ( ; born September 4, 1995) is an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

catcher Catcher is a Baseball positions, position in baseball and softball. When a Batter (baseball), batter takes their at bat, turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home plate, home) Umpire (baseball), umpire, and recei ...

in the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. As one of the American L ...

organization. He previously played in

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), ...

(MLB) for the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

. He was drafted by the Reds in the seventh round of the

2017 MLB draft The 2017 Major League Baseball (MLB) First-Year Player Draft began on June 12, 2017. The draft assigned amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The first 36 picks, including the first round and compensatory picks, were broadcast on MLB Network on J ...

Career

Amateur career

Kolozsvary attended Mount Dora Christian Academy in

Mount Dora, Florida Mount Dora is a city in Lake County, Florida, US. As of the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census it had a population of 12,370, and in 2019 the population was estimated to be 14,516. It is part of the Orlando-Kissimmee, Florida, Metropolitan S ...

, and transferred to

Tavares High School Tavares High School is a high school located in Tavares, Florida, United States, and is one of seven public high schools operated by Lake County Schools in Lake County, Florida. The school was built in 1926 and originally housed grades 9 and 10. I ...

Tavares, Florida Tavares (, ) is a city in the central portion of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of Lake County. The population at the 2020 census was 19,003, and in 2019 the population was estimated to be 17,749. It is part of the Orlando&ndas ...

, for his senior year. He enrolled at the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

, where he played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional pl ...

for the

Florida Gators The Florida Gators are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Florida, located in Gainesville. The University of Florida, its athletic program, its alumni and its sports fans are often collectively referred to as t ...

. With the Gators, he was a member of the 2017 College World Series (CWS). Kolozsvary had one

plate appearance In baseball statistics, a player is credited with a plate appearance (denoted by PA) each time he completes a turn batting. Under Rule 5.04(c) of the Official Baseball Rules, a player completes a turn batting when he is put out or becomes a runner ...

during the CWS, hitting a

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

off of

Nick Lodolo Nicholas Frank Lodolo ( ; born February 5, 1998) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2022. Amateur career Lodolo attended Damien High School in La Verne, ...

Cincinnati Reds

The

selected Kolozsvary in the seventh round, 197th overall, of the

, and he signed with the team. He made his professional debut with the rookie-level

Billings Mustangs The Billings Mustangs are an independent baseball team of the Pioneer League, which is not affiliated with Major League Baseball (MLB) but is an MLB Partner League. They are located in Billings, Montana, and have played their home games at Dehler ...

, posting a .305/.362/.411 slash in 28 games. In 2018, Kolozsvary played for the Single-A

Dayton Dragons The Dayton Dragons are a Minor League Baseball team of the Midwest League and the High-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds. They are located in Dayton, Ohio, and play their home games at Day Air Ballpark, formerly known as Fifth Third Field. In 2 ...

, where he hit .225/.310/.324 with 3 home runs and 27 RBI. The following season, Kolozsvary received a promotion to the High-A

Daytona Tortugas The Daytona Tortugas are a Minor League Baseball team of the Florida State League and the Single-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds. They are located in Daytona Beach, Florida, and play their home games at Jackie Robinson Ballpark; opened in 191 ...

, and slashed .188/.341/.321 in 79 games with the team. During the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, which resulted in the cancellation of the 2020 minor league season, the Reds included Kolozsvary in their 60-man player pool at their alternate site, but did not see any game time in the major leagues. Kolozsvary was assigned to the Double-A Chattanooga Lookouts to begin the 2021 season. In August, the Reds promoted him to the Triple-A

Louisville Bats The Louisville Bats are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds. They are located in Louisville, Kentucky, and are named in dual reference to the bat, win ...

. On September 20, 2021, Cincinnati selected Kolozsvary‘s contact and added him to the active roster, but he was optioned back on September 22 without making an appearance with the Reds. Kolozsvary began the 2022 season with Chattanooga. He was selected to the 40-man roster and made his major league debut on April 20, appearing as a defensive substitute for the Reds. On April 28, Kolozsvary collected his first MLB hit and RBI, lacing a double off of San Diego Padres starter and former Team USA teammate Nick Martinez.

Baltimore Orioles

On October 14, 2022, Kolozsvary was claimed off waivers by the

. On November 19, he was removed from the 40-man roster and sent outright to the Triple-A Norfolk Tides.

International career

Kolozsvary played for the

United States national baseball team The United States national baseball team represents the United States in international-level baseball competitions. The team is currently ranked 5th in the world by the World Baseball Softball Confederation. Team USA won the Olympic baseball to ...

for qualifying for

baseball at the 2020 Summer Olympics Baseball was featured at the 2020 Summer Olympics, in Tokyo, for the first time since the 2008 Summer Olympics. Six national teams competed in the tournament: Israel, Japan (host), Mexico, South Korea, the United States, and the Dominican Republ ...

. After the team qualified, he was named to the Olympics roster on July 2. The team went on to win silver, falling to Japan in the gold-medal game.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kolozsvary, Mark Living people 1995 births People from Eustis, Florida Baseball players from Florida Major League Baseball catchers Cincinnati Reds players Florida Gators baseball players Billings Mustangs players Dayton Dragons players Scottsdale Scorpions players Daytona Tortugas players Chattanooga Lookouts players Louisville Bats players United States national baseball team players Olympic baseball players of the United States Baseball players at the 2020 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for the United States in baseball Lakeshore Chinooks players