'They'd have a show for sure': Five reasons to see the Brockton Rox play this summer

EDITOR'S NOTE: This story was updated to correct information about the the Savannah Bananas coming to Campanelli Stadium on August 16. The Bananas will bring their own opponent, The Party Animals, and will not oppose the Rox.

BROCKTON – Summer league baseball season in Brockton doesn't start until K.O., the lovable kangaroo mascot of the Brockton Rox, moonwalks atop the home dugout at Campanelli Stadium.

It didn't sustain into the later innings as the visiting Nashua Silver Knights spoiled the team's home-opener Thursday night with a 6-4 win, but K.O. always makes it a fun night at the ballpark.

Norm Laviolette tries to do much of the same in his second season as owner of the Rox.

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Between changes in the roster, coaching staff and thrills at the City of Champions' baseball diamond, here are five angles to the team this year as it embarks on a new season, its 10th playing in the Futures League.

Manny Ramirez Jr. is back

After a season in which the Rox roster featured the sons of five former Major Leaguers, one of the big names has returned this summer.

Manny Ramirez Jr., a sophomore outfielder from Weston, Florida and Tallahassee Community College, has already hit a pair of home runs in the Rox' first two games this season. This three-run shot in third inning of Thursday's home-opener cleared the center field fence.

“From last year to this year, (Ramirez Jr.'s growth) is like night and day," first-year manager Joe Logan said. "He’s the ultimate professional. Obviously he has the genes from his father, but he has (the) tools and the ability to do it. He’s staying back and being patient this year, taking what people give him, going out and executing. Maturity, he’s a year older. He’s always had that work ethic, it’s just engraved in him.”

Last summer, three of Ramirez Jr.'s 18 hits were home runs as he hit for a .171 average with 13 RBIs in 105 plate appearances. He played in 32 games total as the Rox went 24-39 and missed the playoffs.

Ramirez Jr. is 3-for-6 with 4 RBI through the team's first two games this season (1-1).

“I try to stick to the approach my dad gives me: stay simple, relax at the plate, not try to do too much and hit the ball the other way," Ramirez Jr. said. “I feel great. I just try to go up there relaxed to do my thing.”

Marika Lyszczyk, the first female player in league history

Ramirez Jr. wasn't the only one to shine despite the loss in the home-opener.

Marika Lyszczyk, the first female player in Future's League history, pitched the ninth inning and recorded a strikeout in her first appearance of the season.

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“It’s 2023. Everything is changing with evolution," Logan said. "She’s a hard worker. She’s one of the first ones here, one of the last ones to leave. It’s been a pleasure to watch her perform her craft. I look forward to a great season for her, to go out and do what she did tonight.”

Lyszczyk is a native of Delta, British Colombia, and a right-handed sophomore at Sonoma State University in California, where she became the first Canadian female to play in an NCAA baseball game. She is also the first female to catch in an NCAA baseball game, and an MLB content creator on social media. In high school, Lyszczyk was a five-year varsity baseball player.

“I actually reached out to the Brockton Rox," for the opportunity, Lyszczyk said. "It ended up working out pretty well for me. I’m excited to come out here this summer and help the team win. ... It’s honestly been amazing (so far). I love summer ball so much. It’s fun to play with a bunch of guys from a whole bunch of backgrounds. It’s always exciting to get out there with the guys. For any fan to come out, they’d have a show for sure.”

“It’s rewarding to see these kids have success," Logan said, standing between Ramirez Jr. and Lyszczyk. "It’s rewarding to see this young man right here experience the fruits of his hard work. He put in a lot of hard work and you can tell. And this young lady right here, in school, she didn’t pitch that many innings, but she stayed focused, she stayed in shape. Now, she’s here, she’s going to pitch and give us a chance.”

New owner is in on the fun

The team's new owner Norm Laviolette, a Duxbury native, owns two comedy clubs in Boston – Improv Asylum and Laugh Boston – and, while wearing a patriotic cowboy hat and goofy red sport coat, he is all-in on bringing the same atmosphere to Campanelli Stadium this summer.

He'll be most prominently seen hurling T-shirts and such from the team's dugout during games, or his traditional lap around the field on his motorcycle in the middle of the sixth inning.

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“The thing that has me most excited for this season, it’s always the same thing: the opportunity to have fun and entertain the families of the South Shore," Laviolette said. "The baseball is fun – you get to see a lot of really good baseball – but (the atmosphere) is way more fun for me."

“I come at this with my comedy club aspect," Laviolette said. "For me, that’s what it is. I’m able to bring that fun spirit to it. We should laugh, we should have fun. Everyone loves to laugh. Especially nowadays, we need to laugh. We need to find a place to do it together. ... That’s what people remember. You don’t really remember the score of this game, but what you do remember is if your kids had an amazing time.”

Upgrades coming to Campanelli Stadium

When Laviolette first became owner last summer, he said renovating Campanelli Stadium was high on his list of priorities.

"Last season, we couldn't open the first base concession stand," Laviolette said. "None of the equipment worked. It was all broken down. We had 2,000 people in here towards the end of the season and we couldn't serve them. You had to wait an hour-and-a-half for a hot dog. That's crazy."

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This season, the stadium is furnished with a new P.O.S. (Point of Sale) operating system that Laviolette and first-year general manager Nick Desrosiers say Campanelli Stadium is the only non-Major League venue to have.

The stadium also has upgraded lights and sound system, plus a new digital scoreboard coming within the next two weeks. All the skybox suites have been renovated."

Savannah Bananas coming to the city

After the Rox' 63-game regular season concludes, the viral Savannah Bananas will come to the City of Champions on Aug. 16.

The Bananas play an alternate style (Banana Ball) in which it incorporates a new rulebook to traditional baseball, and will bring "The Party Animals" – an opponent like the Washington Generals, with the Bananas taking role of the Harlem Globetrotters in a similar concept – to play against. The Bananas' format, though, unlike the Globetrotters', is a competitive game without a planned outcome.

Last October the Bananas announced Brockton as one of their destinations on the team's 'Banana Ball World Tour.'

"It's going to be great and fun for the city," Logan said. "It gives another element to the game."

This article originally appeared on The Enterprise: Five reasons to see the Brockton Rox this summer