1/31/07: 2006 MVABL Award Winners Announced

MOST VALUABLE PLAYER: Clint Wolf (Dayton Rangers) Clint was awarded the 2006 MVABL MVP award on Wednesday, narrowly beating out Jeremey Fruhwirth of the Beavercreek Sox by two votes. Wolf received 6 votes, followed closely behind by Fruhwirth with 4. The Indians' Phil Beach finished third in the voting with 2 votes, and Brad Thoma of the Woodpeckers and Jason Griffith of the Royals each registered one vote. Rangers' centerfielder Clint Wolf was team leader in 8 of 9 major offensive categories. Clint's 31 RBIs and 7 triples were tops in the MVABL. Clint batted .463 on the season with 38 hits, 23 runs scored, 8 doubles, and 3 HRs --putting him in the league's top five in those categories.

PITCHER OF THE YEAR: Tim Antil (Beavercreek Sox) The coaches' ballots are in and Sox pitcher Tim Antil came out on top for the Pitcher of the Year award. Tim received 5 votes, Woodpeckers' Matt Klaus finished second in voting with 3 nominations, and the Royals' Nick Biron notched two votes. Phil Beach, Jason Griffith, and Brian Girard each recorded one vote. Tim was the league leader in wins (6-0) and ERA (1.09), and was unscored upon in his first three starts. Antil's big games included a 10-K performance in five innings against the Reapers and a complete game shutout of the Astros.

CO-ROOKIES OF THE YEAR: Brian Shoup (Beavercreek Sox) and Joey Herren (Springfield Indians) With a large crop of first year talent in 2006, ten rookies each received votes for this award. However, Brian and Joey were the only players to receive multiple votes. Shoup batted .463, scored 20 runs, and drove in 19. Herren batted .404, scored 17 times, and drove in 17 runs.

COACH OF THE YEAR: Chaz DeShayes (Ohio Woodpeckers) Chaz led the Woodpeckers in 2006 to the team's third straight MVABL title. The Woodpeckers only lost two games on the season (Outlaws in July, Attack Mules in playoffs).

ALL MVABL TEAM: Clint Wolf (Dayton Rangers), Jeremey Fruhwirth (Beavercreek Sox), Tim Antil (Beavercreek Sox), Brad Thoma (Ohio Woodpeckers), Matt Klaus (Ohio Woodpeckers)

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Ohio Woodpeckers The Woodpeckers finished off their back-to-back-to-back league championships by defeating the Kettering Royals twice in the championships, 12-0 (game 1) and 6-4 (game 2).

STRIKEOUT LEADER: Brian Girard (Dayton Astros) 75 Brian mowed down 75 league opponents in 67 1/3 innings of work in 2006. Girard's highest output came June 21 when 15 Reapers went down on strikes. To top it off, the Astros' ace registered his first career no-hitter that day as well.

BATTING AVG. LEADER: Jeremey Fruhwirth (Beavercreek Sox) .588 Sox infielder Jeremey Fruhwirth led the MVABL in four offensive categories including batting average, hits (47), runs scored (33), and doubles (14). Fruhwirth was also tops among teammates in stolen bases (14) and walks (7). Jeremey had 14 multi-hit games in 2006, including four games in which he had 4 hits. Fruhwirth was only held hitless in one game (8/13 vs. Angels).

X-TRA BASE HITS LEADER: Clint Wolf (Dayton Rangers) 18 (8-2B, 7-3B, 3-HR) Clint set a Rangers' single-season record with 7 triples in 2006. Two of Wolf's three HRs came in a June divisional matchup against the Angels.