Casey Kopitzke was a two-time All-American in his college playing days at Wisconsin-Oshkosh. He was drafted by the Chicago Cubs in the 27th round of the 1999 MLB First-Year Player Draft. The De Pere High School (WI) graduate helped UW-Oshkosh to a 102-19 record, three WIAC championships and one NCAA Division III World Series appearance from 1997-99.
Kopitzke earned Second Team All-America accolades as a catcher in 1998 after helping UWO to a school record tying 41 wins, a WIAC title and a fifth-place finish at the NCAA Division III World Series. He paced the team with a .383 batting average, 18 doubles and 68 RBIs. His season RBI total ranked fourth in WIAC annals at the time and now lists ninth all-time.
In 1999, Kopitzke was named a First Team All-American catcher after batting .366, leading the Titans with 42 runs, 13 doubles and nine home runs. He was second with 38 RBIs to help UWO to a 34-4 overall record, a 13-1 conference mark and a runner-up showing at the NCAA Division III Midwest Regional. Kopitzke caught a UWO pitching staff that produced a conference-record 13 shutouts and a 1.38 earned run average.
He finished his UWO career. with a 350 BA with 23 home runs, 35 doubles and 126 RBIs in 121 games, all starts. For his efforts in the classroom, Casey was named to the 1999 CoSIDA Academic All-America Third Team.
After his collegiate career, Kopitzke played eight seasons in the Chicago Cubs minor league system, reaching the Triple-A level. In 2003, Kopitzke was named the most valuable player for the West Tennessee Diamond Jaxx, the Cubs’ AA affiliate, and was chosen to play in the prestigious Arizona Fall League after batting .261 with 27 runs, 20 RBIs and 10 doubles in 106 games. In 2006, Kopitzke was named the Triple-A Iowa Cubs’ Man of the Year for his contributions to the community.
Following his playing career, Kopitzke served as the youngest minor league catching coordinator in professional baseball from 2007-08. He was also added to the Cubs staff as an assistant coach in September 2008. He managed Boise (Northwest League) iin 2009 and moved up to running Peoria (Midwest League) from 2010-12..
After the 2012 season, Kopitzke left the Cubs organization to enroll in law school at Marquette, graduating in December 2015. Kopitzke lives in St. Paul with his wife, Erin, and son, Samuel.
