How first-year manager Nick Studdard saved the St. Cloud Rox season

SAINT CLOUD – For three days in June, first-year manager Nick Studdard was the only coach on staff for the St. Cloud Rox.

After the Rox fought their way back to .500 from a 2-6 start, both of his assistants left to take jobs with a college program. The season could have gone either way.

“I’m not going to lie to you when we were .500, I felt a lot of it,” Studdard said. "Because I know what this organization stands for.”

The outcome was the one he wanted.

The Rox are currently on a nine-game win streak, outscoring Northwoods League opponents 86-21 in that stretch. They won their first game after the all-star break Thursday against the Minot Hot Tots by a score of 16-3 and, at 16-6, led the Great Plains West second-half standings by three games after Thursday. The second-place Willmar Stingers (13-9) won the first half of the season with a record of 23-11, clearing St. Cloud by 4.5 games.

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“We were in a lot of really close games,” Studdard said. “We’ve only had one game that we’ve lost by more than five runs so we’ve been in the thick of every single game. We were figuring out how to get over that edge.”

It is the second year in a row that the Rox have had to win or place second behind Willmar in the season's second half to advance to the Northwoods League playoffs. The winning teams of each half will play a four-game divisional round before the Northwoods League semifinals.

The Rox are 2-5 against the Stingers this season, including a mid-July three-game sweep in Bill Taunton Stadium. The regular season ends with the rivals playing a four-game series. Last year St. Cloud beat Willmar in the playoffs and went on to lose to in the Northwoods championship to a Green Bay team that was undefeated in the playoffs.

Last season was then-manager Brian Lewis’ second year coaching the Rox and his eighth leading a team in the league. Now an assistant at Division II South Carolina-Beaufort, Lewis left with a Northwoods managerial record of 290-248, which ranks fourth all-time in wins.

Studdard was the Rox’s hitting coach before Lewis got to St. Cloud and interviewed for the managerial role. Though Lewis got the job, Studdard was encouraged to stay on in his same position. The pair became close and have talked a lot this summer, especially when the Rox were struggling.

"I gave guidance on the team staying motivated and focused," Lewis said. "In this league, it's easy to shut it down especially if things don't go your way early in the season."

St. Cloud is the first non-youth club Studdard has managed; his only previous experience came as a 19-year-old for a 14-U travel team. In the spring, he was the assistant baseball coach for at Baton Rouge Community College in Louisiana.

Toward the end of the first half of the Northwoods season, Rox pitching coach Trevor Charpie was hired as head coach at NCAA Division I Youngstown State in Ohio, taking hitting coach Dylan Moseley with him.

St. Cloud hired Evan Johnson to coach the pitching staff and Ricky Ramirez Jr. the batters, both previous Rox players. Johnson played with the Rox in 2018, and this is his first coaching job. Ramirez hit .298 in 252 at-bats for St. Cloud in 2016 and has in a few independent leagues and coached for his alma mater (McNeese State in Louisiana) and San Jacinto College.

Studdard said they’ve made his life “so much easier” since joining the team. He also has several returning players who understand the expectations in St. Cloud.

“St. Cloud is different than most other teams in the league,” Studdard said. “It’s a privilege to be here in this community. When you look outside as you’re walking in, there’s lines halfway down the lot.”

Pitcher Hunter Day said, amongst ball players, St. Cloud is known for winning. Day is from Richfield, now a senior at Missouri State, and has played with the Rox for three years. He’s watched Studdard grow into his role, appreciating his high expectations paired with a laid-back attitude.

“I think he's handled (the transition to manager) great,” managing partner Scott Schreiner said. “He’s definitely a player’s type of coach. I know all the guys love playing for him and when you play 70 games in 76 days, you got to have a guy that's keeping motivated every day.”

Studdard called Lewis his “biggest mentor,” picking up habits like writing lineup cards with similar styles. Studdard said a new flavor he is bringing to the team is more aggression on the base paths. He likes to encourage stealing and taking extra bases, even at the cost of a few pickoffs.  St. Cloud already has 20 more than their total of 130 steals in the regular season last year.

The Rox are 34-21 overall and had five players selected to the all-star game played Tuesday in Mankato. Tyler Bishop (Nebraska Omaha), Ben Higdon (Southern Mississippi), Brandon Jaenke (Viterbo), and Kaden Pfeffer (St. Cloud State) each took the field in Rox uniforms. Phil Brennaman (Louisiana-Lafayette) also represented St. Cloud on the Great Plains roster. Jaenke and Pfeffer both got two batters out as pitchers and Bishop and Higdon got regular at-bats. Bishop singled.

Higdon, a lefty outfielder, represented St. Cloud in the home run challenge in the day prior to the all star game. He hit 10 long balls.

Contact reporter Reid Glenn at rglenn@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on St. Cloud Times: How first-year manager Nick Studdard saved the St. Cloud Rox season