Baseball: Quick spends summer playing in Austria

After missing it due to the pandemic, Mason Quick was back playing baseball overseas this summer.

The 2014 Pillager graduate spent the last three months in Austria playing baseball for the Rohrbach Crazy Geese in the Second Bundesliga league.

Quick said he played just about everywhere and hit for a .447 average in 18 games and 62 plate appearances. He tallied 21 hits, which was second on the team, with four doubles, one triple and one home run. He led the team in RBIs with 21 and slugged .638 with an on base percentage of .581 which led to a team-leading 1.212 OPS.

On the mound, Quick pitched 22 innings which was second on the team. He compiled a 6.68 ERA with 17 strikeouts.

The Crazy Geese finished sixth in the Second Bundesliga with a 6-16 record.

After graduating from Pillager, Quick played his college baseball at Valley City State and club baseball at Minnesota State University Moorhead. In 2019, Quick played for the Raiffeisen Wolfe in the German second league. In 24 games with Raiffeisen Wolfe, Quick hit .247 with 18 hits, two doubles and 10 RBIs.

“I couldn’t go anywhere the last two years because of COVID,” Quick said. “This year I had an offer in Belgium and an offer in Austria and went with the one in Austria.”

A typical week for Quick in Austria was games on the weekends and helping out with the youth camps with his club during the week. He was able to sneak away during the free weekends to visit the Alps and different cities in Austria.

“It’s very European and you play a lot of doubleheaders,” Quick said. “The schedule is more relaxed than over here where you play four to six days a week. Over there it’s only two. I helped out with the youth program as well.”

Talentwise, Quick said the league he played in Austria would be similar to playing at the Division III level in the states.

“The talent pool is not quite as high because it’s not the most popular sport,” he said.

The Crazy Geese paid for Quick’s flight out and helped him get a fully furnished apartment in Austria. He also had a gym membership to workout.

Quick said he was one of the youngest members on the team and most of his teammates were in their mid-30s.

“This team was awesome,” he said. “It was like a second family and very hard to leave.”

The best advice he’d give anyone thinking about playing baseball overseas is to go for it.

“Just do it,” he said. “And just be flexible with their culture because it’s more laid back then in the states.”

Quick said he just graduated college with an elementary degree and plans to get his teaching license in the winter. He wants to play one more year in Europe and then get into coaching.

“I want to start my coaching and teaching career, too,” Quick said.

CONRAD ENGSTROM may be reached at 218-855-5861 or conrad.engstrom@brainerddispatch.com. Follow on Twitter at www.twitter.com/the_rad34.