Royal Oak’s Kosko is Most Valuable Player, Madison’s Tengler is Top Pitcher
Rochester, Minn. – The Northwoods League announced the 2026 Postseason All-Star Team and award winners on Thursday, August 20. Royal Oak outfielder Luke Kosko was named the League’s Most Valuable Player and Madison’s Ckyler Tengler was named Pitcher of the Year. Dale Varsho from Eau Claire was named the Manager of the Year. Christian Faust from Royal Oak was named Coach of the Year.
Luke Kosko was named the Northwoods League MVP, and he was also a 2026 mid-season All-Star for the Leprechauns. For the season, he hit .349 with 17 home runs, 19 doubles, and 72 RBI. Kosko is a native of Pittsburgh, PA and plays collegiately at the University of Cincinnati.
Tengler, a right-handed pitcher from the Madison Mallards, was named the Northwoods League Pitcher of the Year. Tengler appeared in 10 games and was 6-1 with a 2.41 ERA. In 52.1 innings he struck out 55 batters while walking only 11. He also pitched 1.0 innings in the NWL All-Star game allowing no runs on no hits.
La Crosse Logger Savion Flowers was also selected for the Postseason All-Star Team with a League leading .373 batting average.
Kosko, Tengler and Flowers are among the 28 players selected to the NWL’s Postseason All-Star team. The Royal Oak Leprechauns led the voting with four selections. The Rochester Honkers and Eau Claire Express had three selections each.
Dale Varsho of the Eau Claire Express is the 2026 Manager of the Year. The Express had the best overall record in the league at 46-22 and were the Second Half Champions in the Great Plains East Division.
The 2026 Coach of the Year in the Northwoods League is Christian Faust of the Royal Oak Leprechauns. Faust was instrumental in helping lead the Leprechauns to a second-half title in the Great Lakes East and an eventual Northwoods League Championship after going 4-0 in the playoffs.
Full 2026 NWL Postseason All-Star Rosters can be found here: 2026 NWL Postseason All-Stars
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The Northwoods League is the proven leader in the development of elite college baseball players. Having completed its 33rd season, the Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in history with 26 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, nearly 2400 NWL alums have been drafted and over 430 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including three-time All-Star and 2016 Roberto Clemente Award winner Curtis Granderson, three-time Cy Young Award winner and two-time World Series Champion Max Scherzer (TOR), two-time World Series Champions Ben Zobrist and Brandon Crawford and World Series Champion and Cy Young Award winner Chris Sale (ATL). As well as 2019 Rookie of the Year and 2019/2021 Home Run Derby Champion Pete Alonso (BAL) and 2023 World Series Champion, MLB All-Star, MLB Gold Glove, two-time Silver Slugger winner and two-time All-MLB first team shortstop Marcus Semien (NYM). League games are viewable live on FloSports.tv.