Willmar’s Sojka is Most Valuable Player, Kalamazoo’s Kraft is Top Pitcher
Rochester, Minn. – The Northwoods League announced the 2024 Postseason All-Star Team and award winners on Saturday, August 10. Willmar outfielder Andrew Sojka was named the League’s Most Valuable Player and Kalamazoo’s Ryan Kraft was named Pitcher of the Year as voted by the League’s coaches and members of the media. Corey Thompson from Wausau was named the Manager of the Year and Kelton Caldwell from Wausau won the Coach of the Year Award.
Sojka was also a 2024 mid-season All-Star for the Stingers. For the season, he is hitting .398 with 22 home runs, 22 doubles, five triples and 73 RBI. He is also the all-time Northwoods League leader in home runs with 37. Sojka is a native of Huntington Beach, California.
Kraft, a left-handed pitcher from the Kalamazoo Growlers, was named the Northwoods League Pitcher of the Year. Kraft has appeared in nine games and is 6-2 with a 1.44 ERA. In 56.1 innings he has struck out 81 batters while walking only 10. He also pitched 1.0 innings in the NWL All-Star game and struck out one.
Rockford Rivets infielder Maddox Mihalakis was also selected for the Postseason All-Star Team and is currently leading the League in batting with a .429 average.
Sojka, Kraft and Mihalakis are among the 34 players selected to the NWL’s Postseason All-Star team. The Duluth Huskies, Green Bay Rockers, Kalamazoo Growlers, and the St. Cloud Rox had three selections each.
In his third season in Wausau as Field Manager, Corey Thompson of the Woodchucks is the 2024 Manager of the Year. The Woodchucks currently have the second-best overall record in the league at 49-19 and are the First Half Champions in the Great Lakes West Division.
Kelton Caldwell earned the award for 2024 Coach of the Year in the Northwoods League. He returned to the Woodchucks in 2024 after spending two summers with Wausau in 2021 and 2022. Caldwell was recently hired to the baseball staff at Keiser University. Prior to his coaching career, Caldwell played collegiately at Brigham Young University and professionally in the Frontier and Australian Baseball Leagues.
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The Northwoods League is the proven leader in the development of elite college baseball players. Now in its’ 31st season, the Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in history with 26 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, 365 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 two-time World Series Champion Max Scherzer (TEX), two-time World Series Champions Ben Zobrist and Brandon Crawford (STL) and World Series Champion Chris Sale (ATL). As well as 2019 Rookie of the Year and 2019/2021 Home Run Derby Champion Pete Alonso (NYM) and 2023 World Series Champion, MLB All-Star, MLB Gold Glove and Silver Slugger winner and two-time All-MLB first team shortstop Marcus Semien (TEX). League games are viewable live on Northwoods League+ (at watch.northwoodsleague.com), ESPN+, and the Northwoods League Network. Learn more and find complete streaming schedules 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.