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ZACH BROCKMAN

Baseball Chris Kuchta

Right Where He Wants to Be

Former PSC Baseball Standout Brockman Living the Dream as Minor League GM

BELOIT, Wis. --- There's something to be said for knowing what and where you are supposed to be in life.
 
Very few are fortunate enough to find themselves in this position.  
 
Former Prairie State baseball player Zach Brockman knows this full well. 
 
Most executives who work in professional baseball, when referencing their long-term career ambitions, would almost certainly state that their ultimate goal would be working in a front office for the "big club" of an organization in Major League Baseball. 
 
Not Brockman however.   He's good right where he's at.
 
And where he's at is in the president's seat of the Beloit Sky Carp, Class A affiliate of the Miami Marlins.
 
The former PSC standout catcher for head coaches Carmi DeButch and Ryan Kvasnicka, has served as team president of the Sky Carp since March of 2022 with Beloit being the latest port of call on a voyage throughout minor league baseball which has seen him crisscross the country.
 
A 2001 graduate of Homewood-Flossmoor High School who also attended James Hart Middle School in Homewood, Brockman came to PSC after being recruited by former Pioneer head coach Carmi DeButch.
 
"In 2000 and 2001, we had some great teams at H-F," Brockman said.  "We were a top-5 team in the state, had a couple guys get drafted, but had the unfortunate luck of being in a sectional with some powerhouse teams and never got to the state tournament.
 
"After high school, Carmi, who's quite the character, recruited me to PSC and I jumped at the offer because I just couldn't say no to someone like him."
 
Brockman played his second season at PSC for former Pioneer standout pitcher Ryan Kvasnicka. 
 
Kvasnicka, who's son, A.J., just completed his second season as a pitcher at PSC, has kept tabs on Brockman's career from afar and couldn't be prouder.
 
"Although I only got to coach Zach for one year, I could tell he was beyond his years as far as his knowledge of the game," Kvasnicka said. "With me being a first-year coach right out of college, I was able to rely on him to be my "on-field" coach.  He definitely helped make my transition much smoother, and I'm hopeful he was able to learn as much from me as I was able to learn from him.  I am extremely proud of what he has accomplished, and I'm excited to see what his future holds."
 
Brockman, who continued his career on the diamond at Robert Morris College, is definitely a proponent of going "the juco route" to begin one's college journey.
 
"I mean, first and foremost, you save money at the community college," Brockman said.  "Instead of paying 30-40 thousand dollars for four years at a four-year, you're spending a fraction of that at a junior college.   
 
"Also, from a sports standpoint, you might be sitting on the bench your first two years at a four-year and that could slow your development in your respective sport.  At a juco, you're playing right away and that development continues.  That said, I'd have to say going the juco route didn't hinder me in any way and really helped propel me to where I am today."
 
As stated earlier, holding a seat in the president's office of a major league franchise is not something that Brockman has his sights set on. 
 
"I've actually worked for the big club in Seattle (Mariners) and the thing about the big leagues is that these clubs have 300 or more employees.  You tend to be more of a number with them than an actual employee who's making a difference in the organization.
 
"I'm working my dream job right now.  I love minor league baseball and the level of the game in which it represents.  We have guys here grinding to get to the big leagues and I love playing a roll in that and helping guys along that journey."
 
That journey may never have begun if it weren't for Brockman's father, who encouraged his son to attend a job fair.
 
"I really didn't know what I wanted to do once I got out of Robert Morris and my Dad called me one day and said 'Hey, there's a job fair down at the United Center.'  I went to it and the rest is kind of history.  I didn't even know that something like the jobs I've had for the past twenty years were even a thing.  I didn't know they existed."
 
Brockman's role differs slightly from that of a team president in MLB, but only slightly.
 
"While I don't control the roster, I'm not bringing our players into the Sky Carp, I do oversee the management of the team and day-to-day ops. One of my major responsibilities is to maximize our attendance and figure out the best ways to do that."
 
One of the many enticing aspects of the Sky Carp job for Brockman, in addition to the fact that they play in one of minor league baseball's best new ball parks, ABC Supply Stadium, was the opportunity to move closer to Homewood.
 
"That was hard to pass up," Brockman said.  "It's been quite some time since I've been this close to home.  Since college really I've been all over the country.  I've been on the west coast, down south, really all over.  This has obviously been really nice.  Any time you can go home again is a great thing."
 
Now that he's so close to home, hopefully he can pay his former program a visit to give them a real life look at what a former Pioneer has accomplished.
 
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