Northwoods League Announces 2021 Postseason All-Star Team

Mankato’s Higgins and Fond du Lac’s Simpson are Co-MVP, Traverse City’s Schuelke is Top Pitcher

Rochester, Minn. – The Northwoods League announced the 2021 Postseason All-Star Team and award winners on Friday, August 13. Mankato outfielder Matt Higgins and Fond du Lac second baseman Chandler Simpson were named the League’s Co-Most Valuable Player and Traverse City’s Cam Schuelke was named Pitcher of the Year as voted by the League’s coaches and members of the media. David Bellamy from St. Cloud was named the Manager of the Year and Brandon Vial from St. Cloud won the Coach of the Year Award.

Higgins, a junior at Bellarmine University, was a 2021 mid-season All-Star and hometown hero of the Northwoods League Home Run Challenge the night before the game. He currently has a .335 average with five home runs, 19 doubles and 50 RBI. Higgins is a native of Louisville, Kentucky.

Simpson set a Northwoods League record with 55 stolen bases this season and recently signed with Georgia Tech. He was a mid-season All-Star and went 2 for 5 in the game. He also played in the Major League Dreams Showcase where he stole four bases and went 2 for 6. Simpson hit .377 this season with 23 RBI and 52 runs scored.

Cam Schuelke, a right-handed pitcher from the Traverse City Pit Spitters, was named the Northwoods League Pitcher of the Year. Schuelke, a freshman at Florida Gulf Coast University, has appeared in 15 games and has eight wins and a minuscule 0.68 ERA. He has 48 strikeouts in 53 innings pitched.

Kenosha first baseman Justin Janas from the University of Illinois was also selected for the Postseason All-Star Team and is currently leading the league in batting average at .402.

Higgins, Simpson, Schuelke and Janas are among the 31 players selected to the NWL’s Postseason All-Star team.

The St. Cloud Rox led all teams with four selections while the Mankato MoonDogs and the Waterloo Bucks each had three players selected.

In his first season in St. Cloud, David Bellamy of the Rox is the 2021 Manager of the Year. The Rox currently have the best overall record in the league at 49-17 and are the First and Second Half Champions in the Great Plains West Division.

Brandon Vial earned the award for 2021 Coach of the Year in the Northwoods League. Vial is in his first year with the Rox.

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The Northwoods League is the proven leader in the development of elite college baseball players. Now in its’ 28^th season, the Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 22 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, over 265 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 World Series Champion Max Scherzer (LAD), two-time World Series Champions Ben Zobrist and Brandon Crawford (SFG) and World Series Champion Chris Sale (BOS). As well as 2019 Rookie of the Year and 2019/2021 Home Run Derby Champion Pete Alonso (NYM) and 2021 All-Star, MLB Gold Glove finalist and 2019 Second Team All-MLB shortstop Marcus Semien (TOR). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League website at watchnwl.com. For more information, visit www.northwoodsleague.com or download the Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play.