NWL Announces Rawlings “Big Stick” Award Winners
Stingers’ Pat Stover led all outfielders with a .337 Batting Average
 
(ROCHESTER, MN) The Northwoods League is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2011 Rawlings “Big Stick” Award. This award is given to the player at each position who had the best batting average during the 2011 regular season.
 
La Crosse Loggers catcher Andrew Knapp earned a Rawlings “Big Stick” by becoming the first Northwoods League player to hit .400 since Luis Rivera of the Waterloo Bucks in 1995. Thunder Bay Border Cats second baseman Cullen Mahoney was second in the league in batting at .347 while Waterloo Bucks third baseman Cameron Perkins finished third with a .344 average. Slugging outfielder Shaun Cooper of the Mankato MoonDogs, the 2011 NWL MVP, was the only player to earn both the Rawlings “Big Stick” and Rawlings “Finest in the Field” Award in 2011.

Rawlings has been rewarding the top hitters in the Northwoods League since 2007 in addition to honoring the best fielders since 2002. To honor their achievement the eight award winners will receive an engraved bat from Rawlings. The complete list of 2011 Rawlings “Big Stick” Award Winners is below.

Catcher: Andrew Knapp – La Crosse – California .400
1B: Nate Theunissen – Madison – Central Michigan .325
2B: Cullen Mahoney – Thunder Bay – Loyola Marymount .347
3B: Cameron Perkins – Waterloo – Purdue .344
SS: Ty Forney – Eau Claire – New Mexico State .338
OF: Pat Stover – Willmar – Santa Clara .337
OF: Danny Susdorf – Wisconsin – UC San Diego .335
OF: Shaun Cooper – Mankato – Utah .335 

To be eligible a player would’ve needed to have enough plate appearances to qualify for a batting title. A player must have a minimum of 2.7 plate appearances per team game.   Those players that saw time at more than one position qualify at the position they played most often.  
 
The Northwoods League has more teams, plays more games, and draws more fans than any other Summer Collegiate Baseball League in North America.
 
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