Bourissa Hills' DJ Hill and Great Lakes' Andy Sieradzki Take Home 2021 ORWBL MVP Honors

Throughout the week, the Old Republic Wiffleball League has been handing out its yearly honors. Today we conclude awards week as we announce the winners of the 2021 American and National League Most Valuable Player Awards. The MVP Awards are handed out each year to the most valuable player in each league.

Managers voted for their top three in each category for both the American and National League. Players/Managers received 3 points for a 1st place vote, 2 points for a 2nd place vote, and 1 point for a 3rd place vote. The votes were then added up to determine the winner of each award. Later this weekend once all awards are handed out, the manager's ballots will be made public.

Starting in the American League it was the 2020 AL Rookie of the Year DJ Hill who received the most votes with 28. The American League MVP race was about as good as it gets as there were truly 6-7 guys who you could make a legitimate argument to win the award.

Six different players received a first place vote in the American League as DJ Hill (4) Tyler Shuper, Caleb Jonkman (2), Walter Griffin III (2), Lucas Oletti (2) and Mark Richards (1) all received at least one. While Tyler Shupert ended up receiving 1 more first place vote, it was DJ Hill who came out on top as he finished with 28 votes compared to Shupert's 26 votes. Hill was on 13/16 ballots while Shupert was left off of 4 ballots as that likely proved to be the difference maker.

Just one year after winning AL Rookie of the Year honors, DJ Hill continues to have quite the start to his ORWBL career as he now has an American League MVP to his name. Hill was magnificent all season long for the Wildcards as he finished the season with 62 HR, 117 RBI, and 88 Runs scored to go along with a .602 Batting Average.

Hill was responsible for 42% of the Wildcards Home Runs and RBI's as he did an incredible job carrying the team to their 2nd consecutive season above .500. Hill was selected as a starter for the American League All Star team and he homered in Game 3 of the All Star Game. Hill also represented the Wildcards in the HR Derby as he made it to the 2nd round.

All in all, Hill has had quite the 2 year run to begin his ORWBL career. His addition has turned the Wildcards into legitimate World Series contenders and he will get the chance to shine on the big stage as the Cards' will take on the Maple City Magic in the American League Championship Series.

Moving on to the National League it was Great Lakes Godfathers star Andy Sieradzki who received the most votes with 34 while receiving 10. out of 16 first place votes.

Sieradzki put together a phenomenal season as he finished the year with 56 HR, 75 RBI, and 74 Runs scored while reaching base at a .577 clip. On top of that, Sieradzki also served as the Godfathers top pitcher as he finished the season with an 8-8 record on the mound.

Sieradzki was selected as an All Star starter for the National League as he was the leading vote getter in the NL. His dedication to the Godfathers was unmatched as he played in all 30 games. He surely played a massive role in helping the Godfathers finish at the .500 mark for the first time in franchise history in what is now their 6th season in the league.

All in all the addition of Sieradzki has helped transform the Godfathers into contenders as they made the switch from the AL to the NL and finished the year with the 4th seed. Great Lakes management has done a great job bringing in pieces over the years and it has been great to see how that franchise has evolved over the years.

Now that the Godfathers had a taste of ORWBL success, you can expect this team to be active during Free Agency as they continue to try and piece together a winner over in Great Lakes. One thing is for certain and that is as long as Sieradzki is around, this team will continue to evolve and get better and better.

That now brings awards week to a close as all of the regular season awards have been announced. Thank you to all of the Managers for putting good thought into their selections as we saw the most deserving people win each respective award. Later this weekend all of the Managers ballots will be made public for everyone to see.

American League MVP: