The Dog Days of Summer are in full swing, plus Major League Baseball's All Star break is nearing.
With that in mind, WNIJ host Jason Cregier is joined by the Rockford Rivets Assistant General Manager Hanna Snedecor to discuss how to beat the doldrums of summer and chat about Rockford's amateur baseball team.
The Rivets are an independent baseball team. Snedecor says that means the team is a summer collegiate wooden bat league.
"It’s really a developmental league," she said, "to help prep people to get into the major leagues someday."
One of the Rivets biggest success stories is relief pitcher Jordan Wicks. Wicks was selected with the 21st overall selection in the 2021 Major League Baseball draft.
"It's really cool," said Snedecor, "to say that he was a Rockford Rivet."
Some local ties to the Rivets current roster include Tommy Townsend, who played his high school ball in Sycamore.
"He's a great guy," she said, "and always willing to do extra stuff for us."
Most of the Rivet’s roster is not from the local area, though. Snedecor mentions players hail from many regions of the country such as Arkansas and Texas.
The Rivets offer players to live with host families to help with living costs, adjusting to a new region and to help with homesickness.
"These host families open up their home for a player, or two, or even four in some instances," said Snedecor. "They function as an extra set of parents, an extra set of siblings, and an extra set of family to make sure the players feel at home here."
The Rockford Rivets love a good time, with many promotional nights and fun events on the schedule.
Snedecor says Paws & Dogs night allows fans to bring dogs to Rivets Stadium, plus offers discounted hot dogs to chow on.
Every Saturday home game also features a fireworks show.
"We've," said Snedecor, "had a lot of fun these last few years."
Listen to the full conversation of this interview in the link above.
