Alexandria’s Vavra and Duluth’s Ramsay Top the List at .381
(ROCHESTER, MN) The Northwoods League is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2012 Rawlings “Big Stick” Award. This award is given to the player at each position who had the best batting average during the 2012 regular season.
Alexandria Beetles second baseman Tanner Vavra and Duluth Huskies outfielder James Ramsay each earned a Rawlings “Big Stick” by leading the league in batting average. Rochester Honkers outfielder Justin Parr was second in the league in batting at .370 while Lakeshore Chinooks outfielder Eric Aguilera finished third with a .369 average. Shortstop Brett Kay of the Thunder Bay Border Cats was the only player to earn both the Rawlings “Big Stick” and Rawlings “Finest in the Field” Award in 2012.
Rawlings has been rewarding the top hitters in the Northwoods League since 2007 in addition to honoring the best fielders since 2002. To honor their achievement the eight award winners will receive an engraved bat from Rawlings. The complete list of 2012 Rawlings “Big Stick” Award Winners is below.
| Position | Player | NWL Team | College | Batting Average |
| C | Paul Karmeris |
Duluth |
North Florida | .344 |
| 1B | Michael Suchy |
Willmar | Florida Gulf Coast |
.349 |
| 2B | Tanner Vavra |
Alexandria |
Valparaiso |
.381 |
| 3B | Brendon Hayden |
Wisconsin | Virginia Tech | .343 |
| SS | Brett Kay |
Thunder Bay |
Illinois State |
.320 |
| OF | James Ramsay |
Duluth | South Florida |
.381 |
| OF | Justin Parr |
Rochester | Illinois |
.370 |
| OF | Eric Aguilera |
Lakeshore | Illinois State | .369 |
To be eligible a player would’ve needed to have enough plate appearances to qualify for a batting title. A player must have a minimum of 2.7 plate appearances per team game. Those players that saw time at more than one position qualify at the position they played most often.
The Northwoods League has more teams, plays more games, and draws more fans than any other Summer Collegiate Baseball League in North America.