Former Eau Claire Express outfielder Austin Listi (2015) was recently announced as a Paul Owens Award recipient, given annually by the Philadelphia Phillies to the organization’s top minor league player and pitcher. Listi ended the season playing for the Phillies’ double-A affiliate, the Reading Phillies.

The Paul Owens Award is named for the late Paul Owens, who spent 48 years in the Phillies organization as a scout, farm director, general manager, manager and senior advisor.

Listi, 24, batted .312 for the season with 25 doubles, one triple, 18 home runs, 63 runs scored and 62 walks in 123 combined games between Philadelphia’s high-A affiliate in Clearwater, Fla. and double-A affiliate in Reading, Penn. The first baseman/outfielder got on base at a .412 clip and added a .502 slugging percentage. He was named an All-Star in the Florida State League and had two hits and three RBIs in the contest.

The Huffman, Tex. native came to the Express from Dallas Baptist in 2015. In 26 games and 90 at-bats that season, Listi had a .211 batting average, four home runs, 19 RBIs, and a .308 on-base percentage. Two years later, he was taken in the 17^th round of the 2017 draft by the Phillies.

The Express recently completed its 14^th season of play in the Northwoods League. Season tickets for the 2019 season will go on sale soon. The popular 5-Game Pack, including unlimited food and beverage along with free gifts, is on sale now by calling the Express office at 715-839-7788 or by clicking here.

The Eau Claire Express are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. Now in 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, over 200 former 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 (MIL).  All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League portal. For more information, visit www.eauclaireexpress.com or download the new Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play and set the Express as your favorite team.