Published On: September 23rd, 2026

Savion Flowers from La Crosse tops the baseball list with .373 average, while Hilary Blomberg from Madison leads all of softball at .471

Rochester, Minn. – The Northwoods League is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2026 Rawlings Hitting Awards for both baseball and softball. This award is given to the player at each position who had the best batting average during the 2026 regular season.

La Crosse outfielder Savion Flowers leads the baseball list of award winners. Flowers led the league with an impressive .373 batting average. Hilary Blomberg of the Madison Night Mares had the highest average in NWL Softball hitting .471 helping to lead the Night Mares to their second Championship.

Rawlings as been rewarding the top hitters in Northwoods League Baseball since 2007. This is the third year that Northwoods League Softball hitters are also receiving this award. To honor their achievement, each winner will receive an engraved bat from Rawlings. The complete list of 2026 Rawlings Hitting Award Winners is below.

Position Player NWL Team Batting Average
C Cooper Kruk

Hilary Blomberg

       Rochester

Madison

.313

.471

1B Mana Lau Kong

Shannon Cunningham

La Crosse

Grand Forks

.354

.440

2B Caleb Parker

Katy Olive

Waterloo

Mankato

.326

.397

3B David Estrada

Mia Johnson

Willmar

Wausau

.367

.461

SS Lukas Buckner

Tia Durst

La Crosse

Madison

.329

.400

OF Savion Flowers

Ava Carroll

La Crosse

Madison

.373

.436

OF Brayden Kohls

Sailor Hall

Minnesota

Mankato

.357

.438

OF

DH

Anthony Cepeda

Hollon Brock

Duluth

Eau Claire

.356

.357

OF Trinity Gregg La Crosse .443

To be eligible a player would have needed to have enough plate appearances to qualify for a batting title.

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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 435 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.

 Leveraging the 33-year success of the Northwoods League, the first for-profit Summer Collegiate Baseball League, Northwoods League Softball (NWLS) is the first for-profit Women’s Summer Collegiate Softball League that began play in the Upper Midwest in the summer of 2024.  The purpose of the League will be to develop players for their college, Olympic and future professional play.  Teams will be promoted similar to minor league baseball teams, playing games in front of fans in a fun, friendly, family-oriented environment.

 

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