GREEN BAY — Chris Krepline had a successful 3-year stint as the manager of the Green Bay Rockers, leading them to the Northwoods League title in 2023, but he’s now at the University of Cincinnati.
In comes Josh Merrill, who looks to help the Rockers rebound after a tough 2024 season.
“Baseball has taken me to a couple of different states, all over the country, and I love it,” said the new Rockers field manager.
Listen to Merrill talk about his journey to the Rockers:
When Merrill’s college baseball playing days were over, he thought baseball was in the rear-view mirror. He was working in the medical field.
“I got a call from a buddy that was like, ‘Hey, do you want to coach a 15-year-old team with me?’ and I was like, ‘Sure, why not, man?’ and loved it. Loved seeing the side of the X’s and O’s, the macro view.”
Since then, he’s coached at different levels, from community college to NCAA Division II, and now he’s the head coach at Northern Iowa Area Community College. He prides himself on being a hands-on coach.
“I don’t like sitting there watching guys struggle,” Merrill said. “I lose sleep when guys struggle. When I have a chance to work with them at practice, I kind of go all in and figure out how to get them better.”
Tate Hartlaub, a native of Kiel who plays for Lawrence University now, is currently the only player from Northeast Wisconsin on the Rockers. He says Merrill is a down-to-earth guy.
“Anytime you want to talk to him, you can go talk to him, and he knows so much about baseball," Hartlaub said. "I like just being around him and listening to him talk to some of the players. It’s been awesome to see where he comes from and how much he really knows.”
When assembling the roster, the Rockers' head coach said he wanted guys who were versatile, who have some speed but can also mash the ball. Now his job is getting a bunch of players who haven’t played together to be a cohesive unit. The team is currently 3-1 heading into Friday night and are in first place in the Great Lakes West division.
“It’s not something that I don’t think you can rush, but these guys want to come, they want to get to know their teammates, they want to get to know guys from different places or maybe their rival school that they’re playing every single day in the spring," Merrill said. "For us, it’s kind of putting guys around each other and letting nature take its course.”
