We have a change in leadership at the Beloit Sky Carp (High-A Central), as Zach Brockman, late of the Modesto Nuts (Low-A West), is the new president.
Brockman, 39, grew up in Homewood, IL, about 120 miles from Beloit. His return to the Stateline Area follows the past five years as general manager for the Nuts.
“The chance to join the Sky Carp was one that our family simply could not pass up,” said Brockman, who has a wife, Sommer, and 2-year-old daughter, Sloane. “For the last 15-plus years, we’ve missed too many family birthdays, holidays, and other special events to count. My hometown is only a short drive down Interstate-90, my daughter now has the opportunity to know her family that much better as she grows up. Beloit has felt like home for me from the very start.”
Brockman, a Homewood-Flossmoor High School graduate, stayed in the Chicagoland area and became a 2005 graduate of Robert Morris University in Chicago.
He then embarked on his career in minor league baseball, beginning with his first stint in Modesto as account executive and ticket sales director from 2007-2011. He then worked in front office executive roles with the Myrtle Beach Pelicans and Tulsa Drillers before heading back to Modesto.
“He has made the right steps, the right timing,” said Jonathan Griffith, president of the Studer Family of Companies, which manages the Sky Carp and Pensacola (Fla.) Blue Wahoos, both Miami Marlins affiliations.
“He moved up through the Myrtle Beach system and he’s had some good mentors as well along the way,” said Griffith, who first met Brockman when the two worked in the former High-A Carolina League – Griffith for the Potomac (Maryland) Nationals and Brockman for the Pelicans. “I’ve known him for about 10 years now and his energy, his passion for working in the sports business world are especially what stand out with him.”
Brockman takes over Beloit’s rebranded franchise with the Sky Carp name as reference to a Canadian goose, which thrives in the Beloit region, and does not migrate south during the winter.
“One of the biggest things is Zach is another Sky Carp story for us… bringing him home,” Griffith said. “This is a person who is the oldest of five kids. Ever since Zach left high school, he’s never been able to live back home. He wanted to make his career in the sports world.
“His daughter will now be able to grow up with her cousins and he will be able to see his mom, his brothers and sisters. That is a big deal.
“I think getting to move back home and do what you love is a double whammy. I think having him in that community, having that love for the area and community is going to be a huge asset for us in Beloit.”
Brockman and his wife are finalizing purchase of a home in the Beloit area. His new office at ABC Supply Stadium provides opportunity to direct operations at the beautiful, brick-encased stadium which opened Aug. 3, 2021 and is now a centerpiece of the thriving Rock River business area in downtown Beloit.