“Being around it and involved in all these different aspects allowed me to be a student and observe how everything operates,” the newly appointed Field Manager said. “My goal is to ensure that all the guys who show up to play that day are ready to compete and playing to win.”
Royal Oak Leprechauns Director of Baseball Operations Bob Riker helped make the hiring decision.
“He’s very mature for his age. He was a dedicated player, very talented,” Coach Riker said. “He played shortstop and pitched for me and had an impressive career at Grand Valley, along with a successful stint with the Traverse City Pit Spitters, where he played for one of my former players, Josh Rebrandt. Faust is a winner. He’s a great communicator. He’s far enough removed from playing. Often, after finishing their playing careers, many jump into coaching while still thinking of themselves as players, which can be a challenge for many new coaches. You need to be ready to advance to the next stage. It seems he has managed that transition well. I believe he enjoys being with the guys and has much to offer regarding how to play the game, especially the right way. He’s very dependable. I think the kids will enjoy being around him too.”
And Coach Riker is filling the Leprechaun roster from top to bottom with high-level and hungry-to-win players setting a foundation for Field Manage Faust to have success.
“What we want to do is grab as many talented players as we possibly can. Pitching is where the game kind of starts and ends,” Coach Riker said. “Obviously, you need position players that can catch the ball. There’s three basic entities. You’ve got to be able to throw strikes and you’ve got to be able to pitch and you’ve got to be able to play defense and catch the ball, and you’ve got to be able to score runs. If you can do two of those three better than the other team, you’re going to win 75% of your games.”
The current head coach at Brother Rice High School has 36 years of coaching experience and has turned out plenty of high-level talent over the years. Some of whom are on Northwoods League rosters including the Leprechauns.
“I’m just looking for guys that want to play, guys that want to develop, guys that want to get a chance to play at the next level,” Coach Riker explained. “Players who want to work at their craft and just love to play. Because, again, with the 72-game season, that’s a lot of time to invest and put in and you want to do that.”
The 2025 Royal Oak Leprechaun roster will be filled with returning players, new faces with a connection to the local area.“I’ve got a majority of the players in state, in the area, because we’ve got a lot of players in southwest and southeast Michigan,” he said.
Coach Riker and Field Manager Faust know that the roster will have turnover and they are planning to build a winning foundation with moving pieces or temporary players that mix with the full-time roster.
“Every year it’s a different year. It’s not like you can build a college program for four years or even a professional team because every year you got guys coming and going and even with this type of roster and season you got guys coming and going during the season. You just have to take what each player’s positives are and tailor around that so if you got a team that can run, you’re going to run if you got a team that you know can pitch, you’re going to pitch and play really good defense.”
The Leprechauns will also be filling their two assistant coaching positions in February.
