Rice Lake graduates Isaac Rohde and Matt Juza found themselves sitting in opposing dugouts playing in the Northwoods League last summer.
It only seemed right for the former Warriors to team up again. Juza, a 2022 Rice Lake High School grad, and Rohde, a 2019 alum, played one season of high school baseball together and have also played for the Haugen Hornets during the summer. This year during the dog days of summer they are playing for the Duluth Huskies.
Rohde had spent the last two summers pitching for Duluth, while Juza last year was a part of the Thunder Bay Border Cats. The Northwoods League is a summer collegiate wooden bat league with teams throughout the Great Lakes and Great Plains regions designed to replicate Minor League Baseball.
Juza's connection with Rohde, as well as to Huskies' assistant coach Jake Lewis, who is also an assistant coach on Juza's college team at St. Scholastica in Duluth, helped the Rice Lake pitchers join forces.
"We had a lot less returners this year, so I didn’t hardly know anybody coming back up here this year," Rohde said. "Having Matt to talk to is a big bonus for sure."
Last summer Juza was in his first season in the Northwoods League and was in unfamiliar territory playing for the Border Cats, across the Canadian border in Thunder Bay, Ontario. Playing for Duluth there's a lot more familiarity with not only a teammate but also playing in the same city where he plays college baseball.
"Especially comparing to last year with Thunder Bay, you go up there and don’t really know what to expect out of teammates and it being the first year in the Northwoods League," Juza said. "Having someone I’ve known for years and played with for years, it’s definitely a huge thing."
As of July 4 Rohde had made five appearances for the Huskies. He had worked 6.1 scoreless innings until five runs scored in 4.1 innings in a high-scoring game between the Huskies and La Crosse Loggers on June 25. He bounced back with a scoreless inning Tuesday, and in 11.2 total innings, Rohde has struck out 11. Juza has worked 21 innings, striking out 19. His best outing came June 13 against the Wausau Woodchucks when Juza punched out six and gave up just two hits and one run in five innings.
Rohde has gained familiarity with the league now in his third season. Games almost every day are a big change from college and pitchers have to pace themselves, he said. He's been focused on not overthrowing before games and exerting himself too much in the bullpen warming up. This is a lesson he's also tried to pass onto teammates as a veteran of the Huskies. Juza said last year there was the element of the unknown, how good the Northwoods League is, and whether he could hold his own but seeing his friend and teammate succeed boosted his confidence.
"Last year going up to Thunder Bay and playing in the Northwoods League for the first time you're sitting there, ‘I don’t know how I’m going to be able to compete,'" Juza said. "Now this year, especially seeing Isaac do it the last couple of years, it’s just having more confidence that I can compete at this level."
Rohde is coming off of a dominant college season in which he won All-American honors at Louisiana State-Shreveport. The left-handed Rohde led all NAIA pitchers with a 1.68 ERA. He struck out 129 batters in 101.2 innings and had a 10-3 record in 17 starts. He was also the Red River Conference Pitcher of the Year.
Rohde is hoping to turn his season with the Pilots and a good summer into a professional baseball opportunity. He credits the staff at LSU-Shreveport with making mechanical adjustments to use his lower half more and take the stress off his arm.
"They really helped clean up my mechanics a lot," Rohde said. "I had never really used my legs before this year. I really credit that to them."
During his sophomore campaign at St. Scholastica, Juza made nine appearances with three starts. The right-hander tossed 24.1 innings and struck out 26 compared to eight walks.
Rohde said the duo joke about how they are a mirror image of each other with similar mechanics coming from the left and right sides of the mound.
"We joke around how he’s just a right-handed version of me," Rohde said. "We both have the same arm action from different sides."
One of the big benefits to playing for the Huskies this summer is the proximity to home. After high school Rohde began playing college baseball in Iowa before this past season he was in Louisiana. A less than two-hours drive north is a lot more accessible for friends and family to come watch.
Last summer Juza's home games were in Canada and while there were still trips for road games to play the Huskies or the Eau Claire Express, home games in Duluth allowed for family to attend often.
"A lot of my teammates are from California and Texas and they don’t have that ability for their family to come watch them a lot of the time," Juza said.
"Having that support close by, and if we have an off day I can go home and visit with them for a while, it’s awesome."
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