Former Rockford Rivet, Bren Spillane from Illinois is named Player of the Year
Rochester, Minn. – The Northwoods League is proud to announce that 22 current and former players have been named to All-Big Ten teams following the 2018 Big Ten regular season. Out of the 28 players in the top two All-Big Ten Teams 13 are alumni of the Northwoods League. The Big Ten Regular Season Champion Minnesota Golden Gophers have 21 former Northwoods League players on their roster of 33. Additionally, five more players on their roster are Freshmen and are scheduled to play in the league this summer.
Spillane becomes the 10th Illinois standout to claim Big Ten Player of the Year honors, and the first since former Waterloo Buck David Kerian in 2015. A first baseman for the Illini, Spillane ranks first in the Big Ten in batting average (.407), slugging percentage (.944), on base percentage (.512), runs batted in (57) and home runs (22). During the 2017 season with the Rivets, Spillane hit .284 with four home runs, 24 RBI and 15 stolen bases. He also had nine doubles and two triples.
Below is a list of the NWL players, their All-Big Ten team, college and NWL team. Unanimous selections in ALL CAPS
ALL-BIG TEN FIRST TEAM
1B – BREN SPILLANE, ILLINOIS, ROCKFORD
SS – TERRIN VAVRA, MINNESOTA, DULUTH
OF – Robert Neustrom, Iowa, Waterloo
DH – Dominic Clementi, Michigan, Eau Claire
UTIL – Matt Lloyd, Indiana, Kalamazoo
RP – MAX MEYER, MINNESOTA, MANKATO
ALL-BIG TEN SECOND TEAM
C – Jesse Wilkening, Nebraska, Rockford & Kenosha
1B – Scott Schreiber, Nebraska, Rochester
SS – Ben Troike, Illinois, Kenosha
3B – Micah Coffey, Minnesota, Kenosha
OF – Ben Mezzenga, Minnesota, Eau Claire
SP – Reggie Meyer, Minnesota, Mankato
UTIL – Kevin Biondic, Maryland, Thunder Bay
ALL-BIG TEN THIRD TEAM
1B – Jacson McGowan, Purdue, Wisconsin Rapids
2B – Luke Pettersen, Minnesota, Alexandria/Wisconsin Rapids
SS – Jack Dunn, Northwestern, Lakeshore
OF – Doran Turchin, Illinois, Madison
SP – Tanner Andrews, Purdue, Kalamazoo
RP – Joey Gerber, Illinois, Mankato
ALL-BIG TEN FRESHMAN TEAM
C – Gunner Hellstrom, Nebraska, Thunder Bay
OF – Jaxon Hallmark, Nebraska, Willmar
SP – Trent Johnson, Purdue, Lakeshore
RP – MAX MEYER, MINNESOTA, MANKATO
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The Northwoods League is the proven leader in the development of elite college baseball players. Entering its 25th anniversary season, the Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 20 teams, drawing significantly more fans, in a friendly ballpark experience, than any league of its kind. A valuable training ground for coaches, umpires and front office staff, more than 190 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS), two-time World Series Champions Ben Zobrist (CHC) and Brandon Crawford (SFG) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (BOS), Jordan Zimmermann (DET) and Curtis Granderson (TOR). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League website. For more information, visit www.northwoodsleague.com or download the Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play.