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Richie Schiekofer Earns Second Award of the 2019 Season
Wisconsin Rapids, Wis. – Each season Rawlings, in partnership with the Northwoods League, gives players with the highest batting average in their respective positions as the “Big Stick” Award. This year Rafters outfielder Richie Schiekofer received the award with a .325 batting average.
Schiekofer came to Wisconsin Rapids from Rutgers. In 68 games, he had 76 hits and knocked in 24 runs. In addition, he was walked 39 times and only struck out 36 times, which is an average of .52 per game. This is the second award that Schiekofer won for the 2019 season, with the first being the Rawlings “Finest in the Field” Award due to his flawless defensive performance.
Rawlings has been giving out the “Big Stick” Award in the Northwoods League since 2007. Players need to have at least 2.7 plate appearances per team game in order to qualify. Schiekofer will receive a special Rawlings engraved bat. The 2019 Rawlings “Big Stick” Award recipients are below.
Position | Player | NWL Team | College | Batting Average |
C | Logan Michaels | Madison | Virginia | .354 |
1B | J.T. Schwartz | La Crosse | UCLA | .378 |
2B | Matt Bottcher | Eau Claire | Illinois-Chicago | .367 |
3B | Adam Frank | Wisconsin | Fairleigh Dickinson | .348 |
SS | Evan Berkey | Rochester | Cal State Bakersfield | .358 |
INF | Justice Bigbie | Madison | Western Carolina | .346 |
OF | Richie Schiekofer | Wisconsin Rapids | Rutgers | .325 |
OF | Brandon Seltzer | Wisconsin | Palm Beach Atlantic | .325 |
OF | T.J. Reeves | Wisconsin | Alabama | .324 |
DH | Jake Thompson | Lakeshore | Kentucky | .355 |
Want to attend a Rafters game next season? Rafters Ticket Packages are on sale now! For more information on ticket options visit Raftersbaseball.com, call the Rafthouse at 715-424-5400, or visit Historic Witter Field. The Rafthouse is open from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm, Monday through Thursday at Witter Field, 521 Lincoln Street in Wisconsin Rapids.
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The Wisconsin Rapids Rafters are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. The Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 22 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, over 200 former Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS), two-time World Series Champions Ben Zobrist (CHC) and Brandon Crawford (SFG) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (BOS), Jordan Zimmermann (DET) and Curtis Granderson (TOR). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League portal. For more information, visit www.raftersbaseball.com or download the new Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play and set the Rafters as your favorite team.