49ers Cash in on Post Season Success with Hardware and Look to ReLoad for 2015

Following a dramatic and hard fought post season, the Boys from Brownsville put an exclamation point on their 2014 Rock River Grand Championship with many post season awards at the annual banquet. 

First to be honored was, retired 49ers Star 2001 Rock River North MVP and member of the 2010 Rock River Grand Championship team, Josh Stoffel being selected into the Rock River Hall of Fame.

Then came the annual Rock River Banquet where along with celebrating their team crown 6 members of the 49ers family received honors from the Northern part of the league.  Starting with Bat Boy of the Year Ethan Batchelder.  Ethan was always at the diamond plenty early, always trying to help where needed and always on top of cleaning up the players' messes and always doing it with a smile on his face.  A very deserving honor for a very deserving young man.

Tim Norton received his second Rock River North Manager of the year award (2008).  2014 saw ups and downs during the regular season for Brownsville, but manager Tim Norton always made the right call at the right time to keep the team in line for a home playoff game to start the quest for crown #2.  He balanced a deep bench and deep pitching to put the team in the right position to win as often as possible.

Mitch Beau and Jordan DeBoer both earned All League Honors for their performance in the Tri-County Night League.  Beau was selected as Pitcher of the Year on the strength of his league lead in Strikeouts and finishing tied for league lead in Wins. While DeBoer earned Utility player of the Year.  Jordan finished second in Batting Average, tied for second in Saves and in the top five in a lot of other batting and pitching categories.

In the Rock River portion of the awards Jace Unrein, Grant Berkovitz and Sam Wilhelms earned top positional honors.  Unrein led first basemen in the league in Batting Average (.367) and played phenominal defense while covering the first bag.  Berkovitz similarly led his position, Shortstop, in Batting Average (.387) was equally reliable defensively.  For most of the season "Berko" batted in the 3-4 or 5 spot in the lineup and when compared with the other top offensive Shortstops in the league, he more than put away all challengers with his defensive skills. 

Sam Wilhelms earned his third straight Pitcher of the Year honors for the Rock River North.  Sam earned this on his "Iron Horse" mentality, pitching the most wins (10), innings pitched (113.1) and strikeouts (105) in the entire league as well as leading the North in complete games (6).

Finally, last but not least was long time 49er outfielder and legend JJ Raflik earning the Rock River North's Player of Merit Award.  JJ is, one of the, if not the most well respected players in the Rock River North and has a very decorated career with Brownsville.  Multiple times All-Star selection and All-League recipient, JJ has long been a team leader, both on the field and in the dugout.  With JJ retiring after the season's completion the league felt it proper to honor such a mainstay and recently crowned 2-time Rock River Grand Champion with it's Player of Merit honor.

Stay tuned 49ers fans with details on the upcoming season: new players, new opponents and a lot of the opponents we love to "hate". 

Check out the new schedule and mark your own calendars for April 25th as Dan's Village Bowl (616 Main Street, Brownsville, WI 53006) will host a fundraising bowling event again this year for the Niners.  We're looking for the first 8 teams of 5 paid for the event.  Cost is $25 per person and space is limited, so make sure your team is pre paid as soon as possible.  There will be door prizes, 50/50 raffles and all sorts of other fun to be had.  Please contact Tim Norton fdlnorton@gmail.com for further details or how to pay and get signed up.