Rocori’s Barth Starring For Augie, Will Play For Rox

Former Rocori Spartan Jordan Barth has had a whale of a freshman season with the Augustana Vikings, who are headed to the NCAA Tournament's Central Regional with a 44-8 record. This summer, Barth will come back home to play for the St. Cloud Rox of the Northwoods League.

Barth ended up committing to Augustana after receiving a late-night email from the school.

“One night I got an email at like 11:30 at night,” Barth said. “I was like, wow, these are some really nice facilities and really nice fields.”

“I decided to go for a visit and it just seemed like the right place for me,” Barth said.

Heading into the season, Barth said he wasn’t asked to redshirt and sit out a season to learn.

“Going in I didn’t plan on redshirting,” Barth said. “If they had asked me, I would have done it, but I planned on competing for a spot right away.”

Not only did Barth win a job, but he was named the NSIC's Freshman of the Year after posting a .377 batting average with seven home runs and a team-high 56 runs batted in.

“It means a lot,” Barth said of the honor. “Last year (Augustana teammate) Sam Baier won it, and I thought, looking at their Twitter page, that’s pretty cool that I wanted to do that too.”

The Vikings won the NSIC Tournament for the second time in school history with wins over Wayne State, Concordia-St. Paul and his hometown team, St. Cloud State.

The freshman first baseman took home the MVP award from the conference tournament, batting .625 (10-16), with a home run, six runs scored and three runs batted in.

Barth went 3-4 in the Vikings’ matchup with the Huskies, including a home run in the second inning, the first of back-to-back shots with teammate Ryan Nickel.

“I definitely love beating them, as the hometown rival for me,” Barth said. “We played really good baseball throughout the tournament and I’m hoping to keep it going at the regionals.”

Barth will return home to the St. Cloud area this summer to play with the Rox as a temporary player, meaning he will be rostered for at least ten games and could stay longer if he is offered a full-time gig.

“I’m going to start as a temp at the beginning of the season and see where it takes me,” Barth said. “Hopefully get into some games and keep getting better.”

"Jordan is a great kid that hustles and plays the game the right way," Rox Director of Baseball Operations Augie Rodriguez said. "He is a hard worker that is always smiling and uplifting his teammates."