Rawlings ‘Big Stick’ Award Winners Announced
Two Rafters Among Northwoods League best hitters

Rochester, Minn. – The Northwoods League has announced the recipients of the 2017 Rawlings ‘Big Stick’ Award. This award is given to the player at each position who had the best batting average during the 2017 season

Infielder Ryan Stekl (Canisius) was selected as a 2017 Rawlings ‘Big Stick’ Award recipient. Stekl paced the Rafters offense all season with a .364 average, good for 92 hits while driving in 52 runs. He will enter his Senior season this year at Canisius. Infielder Bryson Stott (UNLV) was also selected as a 2017 Rawlings ‘Big Stick’ Award recipient. Stott broke the single season Rafters record for hits with 100 to go along with his .352 average and knocked in 51 base runners. He will enter his Sophomore season this year at UNLV.

Rawlings has been awarding the top hitters in the Northwoods League since 2007 in addition to honoring the best fielders since 2002. To honor their achievement, the nine award winners will receive an engraved bat from Rawlings. The complete list of 2017 Rawlings “Big Stick” Award Winners is below.

Position Player NWL Team College Batting Average
C Hunter Feduccia Rockford LSU .348
1B Ryan Stekl Wisconsin Rapids Canisius .364
2B Matthew Mika Lakeshore Central Florida .335
3B David Villar La Crosse Loggers South Florida .312
SS Connor Hollis Kalamazoo Houston .375
INF Bryson Stott Wisconsin Rapids Rafters UNLV .352
OF Zac Taylor Madison Illinois .350
OF Daniel Amaral Mankato UCLA .347
OF Ryan Anderson Bismarck UC Davis .340

To be eligible a player would have need to have enough player appearances to qualify for a batting title. A player must have a minimum of 2.7 plate appearances per team game.

###

The Wisconsin Rapids Rafters are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. The 24-year-old summer collegiate 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, 180 former Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including two-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS), two-time World Series Champion Ben Zobrist (CHC) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (BOS), Jordan Zimmermann (DET), Curtis Granderson (LAD) and Lucas Duda (TBR). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League portal. For more information, visit www.raftersbaseball.comor download the new Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play and set the Rafters as your favorite team.