{"id":5545,"date":"2015-01-28T20:51:23","date_gmt":"2015-01-28T20:51:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/madison-mallards\/?p=5545"},"modified":"2015-03-05T16:27:42","modified_gmt":"2015-03-05T16:27:42","slug":"big-top-baseball-announces-organizational-award-winners","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/madison-mallards\/2015\/01\/28\/big-top-baseball-announces-organizational-award-winners\/","title":{"rendered":"Big Top Baseball Announces Organizational Award Winners"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"BTBawards2\"<\/a>Madison, WI \u2013 Big Top Baseball, the parent organization of the Madison Mallards, Wisconsin Rapids Rafters, Kenosha Kingfish, and Green Bay Bullfrogs, has announced the winners of their organizational awards for 2014. John Fanta (Wisconsin Rapids Rafters), Derek McCarty (Green Bay Bullfrogs), and Nick Heyerdahl (Kenosha Kingfish) were recognized by Big Top Baseball for their outstanding performances and work ethic in the 2014 season.<\/span><\/p>\n

Big Top Baseball, who was recently awarded Organization of the Year by BallparkDigest.com, employs over 30 full-time employees and annually hires over 50 interns and 500 part-time employees. Big Top Baseball has become a destination for people looking to start a career in sports.<\/span><\/p>\n

Executive of the Year \u2013 John Fanta<\/span><\/p>\n

John Fanta, General Manager of the Wisconsin Rapids Rafters, received the Executive of the Year award for Big Top Baseball. This award is given to the manager who most exemplifies the core values of the organization. \u201cIt was a great season in Wisconsin Rapids and I thank my staff for their hard work and the fans for all of their support,\u201d said Fanta.<\/span><\/p>\n

In his first season as GM and fifth overall season with Big Top Baseball, the Rafters drew 47,631 fans which was the second highest overall attendance in the team’s history and ranked 17th-best among all summer collegiate teams in the country. \u201cIt has been a pleasure working with the entire Big Top Baseball organization and all of the great people that work tirelessly to bring Northwoods League baseball to our respective communities. I am humbled to receive this award,\u201d said Fanta. He was previously the Assistant General Manager of the Rafters for four years.<\/span><\/p>\n

Before joining the Rafters, Fanta spent two summers as an intern for the La Crosse Loggers, overseeing a ticket sales operation that annually ranks second in the nation for summer collegiate baseball.<\/span><\/p>\n

Fanta received his bachelor’s degree in Sport Management and Business Administration from the University of Wisconsin \u2013 La Crosse in 2009. He is originally from Viroqua, Wisconsin and currently resides in Wisconsin Rapids.<\/span><\/p>\n

Rookie of the Year \u2013 Derek McCarty<\/span><\/p>\n

Derek McCarty, Corporate Account Manager for the Green Bay Bullfrogs received the Rookie of the Year award for Big Top Baseball. This award is given to the top performing individual in their first season with the organization. \u201cIt means a lot to me to win this award,\u201d said McCarty. \u201cThere were a lot of first year people in the organization this past season and everyone that is still with the organization today has a case as to why they could have won Rookie of the Year.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

McCarty did an exceptional job in his first year with the Bullfrogs, working with local businesses to create business development and client and employee entertainment solutions. He played a huge role in the Bullfrogs successful first season under Big Top Baseball. \u201cBTB is a great organization to work for,\u201d added McCarty. \u201cThe ownership has put me on a path to achieve my career goals by providing training, opportunities, and increased responsibilities.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

McCarty graduated from St. Norbert College where he played football and earned a degree in Communications and Media Studies. After graduating, McCarty accepted a job as an account executive for the Cincinnati Cyclones minor league hockey team of the ECHL. After a year there he then accepted a job as an Account Executive with Legends Sales and Marketing at the University of Nevada in Reno. McCarty resides in Green Bay, Wisconsin and is originally from Rapid River, Michigan.<\/p>\n

\u201cTrue Grit\u201d Award \u2013 Nick Heyerdahl<\/span><\/p>\n

Nick Heyerdahl, Assistant General Manager of the Kenosha Kingfish received the Big Top Baseball \u201cGrit\u201d Award. This unique award is given to the individual that has overcome obstacles with perseverance and resilience in order to achieve a goal. \u201cI’m honored to receive this award,\u201d said Heyerdahl. \u201cEveryone within the Big Top Baseball organization works exceptionally hard and all of our employees are deserving of this tremendous accolade. I’m thankful for the recognition and it’s a pleasure to work with the individuals within this organization every day.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In 2013, Heyerdahl spent six months in the Kingfish office by himself until the rest of the staff was appointed. He served as the caretaker of baseball in Kenosha going out and networking within the community, spreading the word of Kingfish Baseball.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBeing a part of Big Top Baseball is truly special,\u201d said Heyerdahl. \u201cThis is a fantastic organization to work for and I thank Steve, Vern, and Conor for the opportunity to grow within Big Top Baseball. From my start as an intern in 2012 to my current position in Kenosha, it has been a great experience and I couldn’t ask for a better team to work with.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Heyerdahl graduated from UW-Whitewater in 2012 with a bachelors degree in Communication with an emphasis in Organizational Communication and a minor in Marketing. Prior to starting in Kenosha, Heyerdahl completed an Event Management Internship with the Mallards in the summer of 2012. He resides in Kenosha and is originally from Janesville, Wisconsin.<\/span><\/p>\n

###<\/p>\n

The Madison Mallards are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. Playing its 22nd season of summer collegiate baseball in 2015, the Northwoods 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 (WAS) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (CWS), Jordan Zimmermann (WAS), Curtis Granderson (NYM), Allen Craig (BOS) and Ben Zobrist (OAK). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League Website.\u00a0\u00a0For more information, visit www.MallardsBaseball.com<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Madison, WI \u2013 Big Top Baseball, the parent organization of the Madison Mallards, Wisconsin Rapids Rafters, Kenosha Kingfish, and Green […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":5626,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[38,15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5545","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archived-news","category-team-news"],"yoast_head":"\nBig Top Baseball Announces Organizational Award Winners - Madison Mallards<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/madison-mallards\/2015\/01\/28\/big-top-baseball-announces-organizational-award-winners\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Big Top Baseball Announces Organizational Award Winners\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Madison, WI \u2013 Big Top Baseball, the parent organization of the Madison Mallards, Wisconsin Rapids Rafters, Kenosha Kingfish, and Green [...]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/madison-mallards\/2015\/01\/28\/big-top-baseball-announces-organizational-award-winners\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Madison Mallards\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-01-28T20:51:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-03-05T16:27:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/madison-mallards\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/17\/2015\/01\/BTBawards2.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"602\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"347\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin-madison\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin-madison\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/madison-mallards\/2015\/01\/28\/big-top-baseball-announces-organizational-award-winners\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/madison-mallards\/2015\/01\/28\/big-top-baseball-announces-organizational-award-winners\/\",\"name\":\"Big Top Baseball Announces Organizational Award Winners - Madison Mallards\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/madison-mallards\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/madison-mallards\/2015\/01\/28\/big-top-baseball-announces-organizational-award-winners\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/madison-mallards\/2015\/01\/28\/big-top-baseball-announces-organizational-award-winners\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/madison-mallards\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/17\/2015\/01\/BTBawards2.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-01-28T20:51:23+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-03-05T16:27:42+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/madison-mallards\/#\/schema\/person\/46b43d0ad20fd9ed52a4e903985bbc7e\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/madison-mallards\/2015\/01\/28\/big-top-baseball-announces-organizational-award-winners\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/madison-mallards\/2015\/01\/28\/big-top-baseball-announces-organizational-award-winners\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/madison-mallards\/2015\/01\/28\/big-top-baseball-announces-organizational-award-winners\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/madison-mallards\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/17\/2015\/01\/BTBawards2.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/madison-mallards\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/17\/2015\/01\/BTBawards2.jpg\",\"width\":602,\"height\":347},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/madison-mallards\/2015\/01\/28\/big-top-baseball-announces-organizational-award-winners\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/madison-mallards\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Big Top Baseball Announces Organizational Award Winners\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/madison-mallards\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/madison-mallards\/\",\"name\":\"Madison Mallards\",\"description\":\"Official Home of Your 9-Inning Vacation!\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/madison-mallards\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/madison-mallards\/#\/schema\/person\/46b43d0ad20fd9ed52a4e903985bbc7e\",\"name\":\"admin-madison\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/madison-mallards\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e6ea235f7a270a99181441184c7825bc91a9c4de8cb4e5993ee68714304fdfcc?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e6ea235f7a270a99181441184c7825bc91a9c4de8cb4e5993ee68714304fdfcc?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin-madison\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/madison-mallards\/author\/admin-madison\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Big Top Baseball Announces Organizational Award Winners - Madison Mallards","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/madison-mallards\/2015\/01\/28\/big-top-baseball-announces-organizational-award-winners\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Big Top Baseball Announces Organizational Award Winners","og_description":"Madison, WI \u2013 Big Top Baseball, the parent organization of the Madison Mallards, Wisconsin Rapids Rafters, Kenosha Kingfish, and Green [...]","og_url":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/madison-mallards\/2015\/01\/28\/big-top-baseball-announces-organizational-award-winners\/","og_site_name":"Madison Mallards","article_published_time":"2015-01-28T20:51:23+00:00","article_modified_time":"2015-03-05T16:27:42+00:00","og_image":[{"width":602,"height":347,"url":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/madison-mallards\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/17\/2015\/01\/BTBawards2.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"admin-madison","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin-madison","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/madison-mallards\/2015\/01\/28\/big-top-baseball-announces-organizational-award-winners\/","url":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/madison-mallards\/2015\/01\/28\/big-top-baseball-announces-organizational-award-winners\/","name":"Big Top Baseball Announces Organizational Award Winners - Madison Mallards","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/madison-mallards\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/madison-mallards\/2015\/01\/28\/big-top-baseball-announces-organizational-award-winners\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/madison-mallards\/2015\/01\/28\/big-top-baseball-announces-organizational-award-winners\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/madison-mallards\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/17\/2015\/01\/BTBawards2.jpg","datePublished":"2015-01-28T20:51:23+00:00","dateModified":"2015-03-05T16:27:42+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/madison-mallards\/#\/schema\/person\/46b43d0ad20fd9ed52a4e903985bbc7e"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/madison-mallards\/2015\/01\/28\/big-top-baseball-announces-organizational-award-winners\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/madison-mallards\/2015\/01\/28\/big-top-baseball-announces-organizational-award-winners\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/madison-mallards\/2015\/01\/28\/big-top-baseball-announces-organizational-award-winners\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/madison-mallards\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/17\/2015\/01\/BTBawards2.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/madison-mallards\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/17\/2015\/01\/BTBawards2.jpg","width":602,"height":347},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/madison-mallards\/2015\/01\/28\/big-top-baseball-announces-organizational-award-winners\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/madison-mallards\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Big Top Baseball Announces Organizational Award Winners"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/madison-mallards\/#website","url":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/madison-mallards\/","name":"Madison Mallards","description":"Official Home of Your 9-Inning Vacation!","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/madison-mallards\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/madison-mallards\/#\/schema\/person\/46b43d0ad20fd9ed52a4e903985bbc7e","name":"admin-madison","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/madison-mallards\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e6ea235f7a270a99181441184c7825bc91a9c4de8cb4e5993ee68714304fdfcc?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e6ea235f7a270a99181441184c7825bc91a9c4de8cb4e5993ee68714304fdfcc?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin-madison"},"url":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/madison-mallards\/author\/admin-madison\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/madison-mallards\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5545","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/madison-mallards\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/madison-mallards\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/madison-mallards\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/madison-mallards\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5545"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/madison-mallards\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5545\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/madison-mallards\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5626"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/madison-mallards\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5545"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/madison-mallards\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5545"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/madison-mallards\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5545"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}