2014 League Award Winners Announced
November 3, 2014
The 2014 Wisconsin State League award winners have been announced, and the Lombard Orioles hold three of the top four awards.
The 2014 Wisconsin State League award winners have been announced, and the Lombard Orioles hold three of the top four awards.
Rookie third baseman Blake Alexander (Lombard Orioles/Elgen Community College) was named the Most Valuable Player as well as Rookie of the Year. Alexander’s teammate, Andrew Mamlic (University of Illinois) was named Pitcher of the Year.
Tyler Martin, who led the Sheboygan A’s to a second place finish in the Wisconsin State Baseball League and a 44-17 overall record was selected as the league’s Manager of the Year.
Alexander, a unanimous selection, led the league in hitting, .444; slugging percentage, .694, and on-base percentage, .512. The league’s only .400 hitter also led in runs scored, hits, and home runs. Alexander, a third baseman, was also a unanimous all-league pick at his position.
Brian Burman (Eau Claire Cavaliers), a unanimous pick as all-league catcher, was runner-up to Alexander in MVP voting.
Mamlic, a righthander, posted an 8-0 record with a 1.88 earned run average. In addition to leading in wins, he also led league in starts, innings pitched, strikeouts and winning percentage.
Sheboygan’s Taylor Schwarz, who led the league in earned run average, was runner up to Mamlic in Most Valuable Pitcher voting. Schwarz was 3-0 with a 1.17 ERA.
Martin edged out Jeff Vukovich (Lombard Orioles) by a 16-13 vote for the Manager of the Year award. It broke Vukovich’s 7-year hold on the award. Vukovich has led the league-dominating Orioles to 10 straight league championships and won it this year with a 21-3 record. Sheboygan finished second, 4.5 back at 16-7.
Joining Alexander, Burman and Malic as unanimous all-league picks were Lombard outfielder Keith Browning and Kenosha left-handed pitcher Jason Bunton.
Other first team picks were: Jason Dennis (Kenosha Kings, 1B), Masaki Onose (Eau Claire Cavaliers, 2B), Sam Hurt (Eau Claire Cavaliers, SS) and Eric Solberg (Sheboygan A’s, SS), Mike Dickerson (Kenosha Kings, OF), Cole Heili (Sheboygan A’s, OF) and Matt Kostrto (Addison Braves, DH).
The Wisconsin State League is one of the premier semi-professional/amateur baseball leagues in the mid-west. In operation since 1970, the Wisconsin State League is a highly competitive league that features many of the midwest's top current and former collegiate athletes, as well as many former professional baseball players. Keep up to date on everything happening in the Wisconsin State League by following the league online on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
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