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(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.
Position Player NWL Team College Batting Average
C 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 also announced the recipients of the 2011 Rawlings “Finest in the Field” Award. The annual award recognizes the top fielders at each position. The winners are selected based on final fielding statistics compiled by league statistician Pointstreak, a Vancouver, British Columbia based sports statistical service company. The 2011 Rawlings Finest in the Field Award recipients and their field percentages are below.
Position Player NWL Team College Fielding Percentage
C Wade Wass Brainerd Lakes Area Meridian CC .994
1B Josh Scheffert Eau Claire Nebraska .998
2B Andrew Ewing Waterloo Iowa .986
3B Troy White Battle Creek Northern Illinois .961
SS Brett Kay Thunder Bay Illinois State .969
OF DeMarcus Tidwell Eau Claire Southern Poly .991
OF Nick Addison Eau Claire Illinois at Chicago .990
OF Shaun Cooper Mankato Utah .982
P Charlie Henderson Brainerd Lakes Area Regis 1.000
The Eau Claire Express and Brainerd Lakes Area Lunkers both had multiple players named as award winners. Express first baseman Josh Scheffert committed just one error in 419 total chances. Two-thirds of the Express outfield, DeMarcus Tidwell and Nick Addison, combined to commit just two errors in 209 total chances. In addition, Addison led the Northwoods League with nine outfield assists. NWL Most Valuable Player Shaun Cooper of the Mankato MoonDogs, who hit 20 home runs during the season, also was a top-3 defensive outfielder. Lunkers catcher Wade Wass made just two errors behind the plate while pitcher Charlie Henderson didn’t commit and error in 29 chances off the mound.
Rawlings has been rewarding the top defenders in the Northwoods League since 2002. The recipients receive a special Rawlings baseball glove mounted on an engraved trophy base. Rawlings is the official equipment provider for the Northwoods League.
To qualify for an award a player needs to appear in at least two-thirds of the scheduled games at a specific position, with the exception of catcher which is half. For pitchers, the player that had the highest total defensive chances without committing an error earns the number one spot.
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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