Sojka & Buettenback - 2024 Rawlings

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Sojka & Buettenback - 2024 Rawlings "Big Stick" Award Winners

October 31, 2024 - Northwoods League (Northwoods)
Willmar Stingers News Release


Willmar, MN - Rawlings©, the Official Bat and Equipment supplier of Northwoods League Baseball©, is proud to announce the winners of the 2024 Rawlings "Big Stick" Awards. The Willmar Stingers have two recipients, Andrew Sojka and Max Buettenback.

The Northwoods League is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2024 Rawlings hitting awards for both baseball and softball. This award is given to the player at each position who had the best batting average during the 2024 regular season.

Rockford Rivets third baseman Maddox Mihalakis leads the baseball list of award winners. Mihalakis led the league with an impressive .429 batting average. Paige Zender of the Mankato Habaneros had the highest average in NWL Softball, hitting .417 helping to lead the Habaneros to the Championship in the first year of NWL Softball.

Rawlings has been rewarding the top hitters in Northwoods League Baseball since 2007. This is the first year that Northwoods League Softball hitters are also receiving this award. To honor their achievement, the nine award winners in each league will receive a trophy from Rawlings. The complete list of 2024 Rawlings Award Winners is below.

Sojka and Buettenback are part of a group of 8 players, who led the league in batting average at their positions. The Willmar Stingers and the LaCrosse Loggers are the only two teams in NWL Baseball to have multiple recipients of the award in 2024. Sojka and Buettenback placed 2nd and 3rd in the league for overall batting average.

Andrew Sojka (California State University, Northridge)

Sojka found his role in the leadoff spot dominating the competition. Adding on to his 2024 NWL MVP, Sojka earned the Rawlings Hitting Award with a batting average of .398 (2nd among qualified hitters). In his second season with the Stingers, he paired the .398 batting average with 22 HR (1st), 73 RBI (1st), and 22 2B (T - 1st).

Max Buettenback (University of Nebraska - Lincoln)

Buettenback's first season in Willmar ends with hardware. The left-handed, clean up hitter placed 3rd among all qualified batters in average. He tallied 81 Hits (6th) and 62 RBI (4th) hitting behind his teammate.

The 2024 Willmar Stingers were a record setting offense lead by Sojka and Buettenback. These two players contributed largely to the Stingers #1 seed going into the playoffs. "The fans knew how good these guys were" said Stingers General Manager, Hunter Rommes. "Since their first at-bat they made an impact on both sides of the ball and really were exciting to watch all summer."

Full Northwoods League Press Release:

https://bit.ly/3A7Gjla

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