Madison, WI – October 9, 2008. The Madison Mallards are proud to announce that Charlotte junior outfielder Rob Lyerly, who helped propel the team to the Northwoods League Championship Series last season, has been named a recipient of the Rawlings Big Stick Award. The award is given to the player at each position who has the best batting average. Lyerly led the league with a .342 average while playing in right field.

(excerpt from Northwoodsleague.com)
To be eligible a player would’ve needed to have enough plate appearances to qualify for a batting title. In 2008 it took at least 184 plate appearances to be listed among the league leaders. Those players that saw time at more than one position qualify at the position they played most often.

It’s no surprise that the 2008 Northwoods League Batting Champion, Madison’s Rob Lyerly (Charlotte), earned the award for outfielders. Lyerly finished the season with a .342 average playing most of his games as the Mallards right fielder. Duluth’s Tim Jobe (Indian River CC) finished a close second in the batting race and takes home a Rawlings Big Stick as the top hitting first baseman in the NWL with a .338 average. St. Cloud’s Derek McCallum (Minnesota), the NWL’s third best hitter, picks up the Big Stick at second base hitting .328 for the River Bats. McCallum and Wisconsin outfielder Matt Gantner (High Point) both earned their first Big Stick while playing their second summer in the Northwoods League.

To honor their achievement the eight award winners will receive an engraved bat from Rawlings. The complete list of 2008 Rawlings Big Stick Award Winners is below.

Catcher Carlos Ramirez, Mankato MoonDogs, Chandler-Gilbert Community College, .315

First Base Tim Jobe, Duluth Huskies, Indian River Community College, .338

Second Base Derek McCallum, St. Cloud River Bats, University of Minnesota, .328

Third Base Joe Bonfe, Eau Claire Express, Creighton University, .326

Shortstop Josh Prince, Green Bay Bullfrogs, Tulane University, .312

Outfield Rob Lyerly, Madison Mallards, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, .342

Outfield Matt Gantner, Wisconsin Woodchucks, High Point University, .316

Outfield Cameron Satterwhite, Green Bay Bullfrogs, University of Cincinnati, .310