Rochester, Minn. – The Northwoods League is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2014 Rawlings “Big Stick” Award. This award is given to the player at each position who had the best batting average during the 2014 regular season.

Wisconsin Rapids shortstop Zack Domingues earned a Rawlings “Big Stick” by leading the league with an outstanding .376 batting average. The Long Beach State Sophomore was also a mid and postseason All-Star.

Madison Mallards first baseman and regular season MVP Pete Alonso was third in the league in batting at .354. Second baseman Pat MacKenzie of the Waterloo Bucks along with Zack Domingues were the only players to earn both the Rawlings “Big Stick” and Rawlings “Finest in the Field” Award in 2014.

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 2014 Rawlings “Big Stick” Award Winners is below.

To be eligible a player would have 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.

The Northwoods League is the proven leader in the development of elite college baseball players. The 21-year old summer collegiate league is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 18 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 120 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (DET) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (CWS), Jordan Zimmermann (WAS), Curtis Granderson (NYM), Allen Craig (BOS) and Ben Zobrist (TB). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League YouTube channel. For more information, visit www.northwoodsleague.com.