W.S.L. Announces Award Winners

SHEBOYGAN – Brad Demmin of the Oshkosh Giants will take two of the top awards here on Jan. 24 when the Wisconsin State Baseball League holds its annual Awards and Hall of Fame Dinner.

Demmin, who led the prestigious semi-pro league in hitting with a .422 average, was voted the League’s Most Valuable Player.  He led the Giants to a third place finish behind the Lombard Orioles and Sheboygan A’s.

Demmin shared the league lead in runs batted in with Sheboygan’s Tim Patzman.

Demmin garnered 14 voting points to 12 for Patzman.  Manitowoc catcher Kyle Schroeder was third with eight points.

Lombard’s ace lefthander Matt Aranson was a near-unanimous pick as Most Valuable Pitcher.   Aranson was a key performer for the championship Orioles as he raced to a 6-0 record with three shutouts and a gaudy 0.23 earned run average.  That ERA is the best posted in the league since Jim Fennema was perfect for Waukesha in 1974.  Aranson racked up 23 points of a possible 24.  Sheboygan’s Cody Griebling (4-0, 1.02) was a distant runner-up in voting with 11 points.

Lombard skipper Jeff Vukovich was picked as Manager of the Year after his club raced to a 26-2 championship season.   The award was the second straight for Vukovich, fourth in the past five years and sixth in the last eight.  The Orioles have definitely been the class of the league.   Vukovich had 19 voting points to 14 for Sheboygan’s Chad Gehr, who led the A’s to a 21-11 second place finish.

Shawn Wozniak of the Sheboygan A’s was elected rookie of the year.  The A’s big first baseman/designated hitter hit .408 second to Demmin.  Wozniak’s 10 doubles and two home runs helped him to a league-leading .618 slugging percentage.  Wozniak had 19 voting points to 16 for runner-up Ian Goldberg of Addison.  Goldberg hit a robust .458, but didn’t have enough plate appearances to qualify for the batting championship.

Those four major award winners will be honored along with the five new inductees into the Wisconsin State League Hall of Fame and the 2008 all-league players at the annual dinner to be held at Richard’s in Sheboygan Falls (501 Monroe St.) on Saturday night, Jan. 24.   The dinner begins at 6 p.m. and is open to all baseball fans.  Cost is $25 per persons.  Persons interested must have reservations and they can be made by sending checks payable to the Wisconsin State League and sending them to: Wisconsin State League, P.O. Box 32, Sheboygan, WI  53083-0032.  Reservations deadline is Jan. 19.  Persons with questions can email them to sac@excel.net or call 920-458-6377.