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ROYAL OAK — The Royal Oak Leprechauns will have some new faces making decisions for the 2025 season.
One of the notable additions to the organization is longtime Brother Rice head coach Bob Riker joining the front office and taking the role of director of baseball operations. One of his biggest responsibilities is helping put the roster together for the season.
“This is the first year I’ve done this,” Riker said. “We’ve been working since right after Labor Day. It’s been a process.”
The Leprechauns play in the Northwoods League, which is set up to give playing time to collegiate ballplayers who need to get playing time after the college season is over.
“Our main goal is to create a competitive product on the field, but also make sure that we get the players their necessary at bats and necessary innings pitched, so that when they go back to school in the fall, their college coaches are happy with where they’re at,” Riker said.
The roster that’s been put together for the 2025 season is composed of a lot of Division I players and a lot of local athletes who are already in, or from, the metro Detroit area.
Most importantly, the team is full of players who want to play and want to compete.
“Very excited about the guys. The majority are probably first-year college players,” Riker said. “They might not have gotten as many at bats or innings pitched as they are accustomed to … so I think they’ll be champing at the bit to get on the mound or get in the batter’s box.”
The other new addition to the Leprechauns staff this season is newly appointed manager Chris Faust.
Faust played for Riker at Brother Rice before going off to play baseball for Grand Valley State University. He also played in the Northwoods League for the Traverse City Pit Spitters and even had a season with the Leprechauns in 2018.
After graduating from GVSU in 2022, Faust immediately began coaching. He helped Riker at Brother Rice and was a volunteer assistant coach at GVSU before becoming the Leprechauns assistant coach last summer, working on hitting and working with infielders.
“He knows the game. He communicates like a 40-year-old guy,” Riker said. “Chris will just be great. He’ll be perfect for the kids.”
Faust helped Riker put together the roster and is looking to be competitive right away.
“We’re expecting to be super competitive. … We have a lot of young, hungry baseball players,” Faust said. “That’s the goal, to get guys that want to be there. I feel like we’ve done a great job at that.”
Aside from being around the game his entire life and coaching with the Leprechauns last summer, one of the biggest attributes Faust provides is experience actually playing in this league for this team before.
“I’ve experienced this league before and I’ve played three summers as a player,” Faust said. “I know how the length of it can affect a mindset.”
The grind of the season is no joke. The team is scheduled to play 72 games in 76 days from May until early August. One of the biggest motivators to get the team through burnout is the fans’ support.
“Last year our fans were fantastic,” Faust said. “Just about everybody in this area has a Memorial Park story. So it’s a fantastic place to call home. … We get to represent the city and the community. It’s really cool how involved and engaged they are.”
The organization has been preparing all winter to give those fans a good ballclub.
“For me it’s been great. … You just see how much work (the front office employees) are putting in,” Faust said. “Everybody is having a great time but is super serious and looking to be 10 times better than last year, putting on a great show, making sure the fans are taken care of, and making sure the players are taken care of.”
Opening day for the Royal Oak Leprechauns will be Memorial Day, May 26, at Memorial Park in Royal Oak. The game will begin at 6:35 p.m. as the Leprechauns play the Kalamazoo Growlers. To get more information on the Leprechauns or to find tickets to upcoming home games, visit northwoodsleague.com/royal-oak-leprechauns.
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