Lakeport's Aiden Traxler, Willow Creek's Evan Lindzy Take Home 2023 Rookie of the Year Honors

Throughout the week, we will be announcing the winners of each regular season award voted on by all eighteen Managers. A player/Manager received 3 points for a 1st place vote, 2 points for a 2nd place vote, and 1 point for a 3rd place vote. We will kick off awards week by announcing the winners of the 2023 American and National League Rookie of the Year Awards

Starting off in the American League, we saw one of the tightest races that we have ever seen between Aiden Traxler of the Lakeport Bombers and Ethan Bumgardner of the Maple City Magic. There has never been a race where two players went toe to toe like this and showed up on nearly every ballot as both players were incredibly deserving of the award.

When it was all said and done, it was the Lakeport Rookie Aiden Traxler that won the final vote, by 1 vote, 43-42. Traxler was included on all 18 of the Manager ballots while Bumgardner was included in 17 out of 18. Traxler received 9 first place votes compared to Bumgardner's 8 first place votes in what turned out to be a race for the ages between the two young stars.

Although Bumgardner fell just short of winning the award, "The Kid" still put together one of the finest ORWBL Rookie seasons that we have seen finishing 1st in RBI (92) 2nd in Runs (77) 2nd in Hits (102) 5th in Home Runs (47) and 9th in Batting Average (.534) for the Bourissa Hills Wildcards and Maple City Magic.

While Bumgardner certainly made a case, Lakeport's Aiden Traxler made just as strong of a case to win the award as the Bombers Rookie was the only 1st year player to hit 50 Home Runs. Traxler was one of only 3 players in all of ORWBL to reach the 50 Home Runs mark along with former MVP winners Brandon Terry and Andy Sieradzki which is pretty elite company to be in as a Rookie.

While being a part of the 50 HR club, Traxler also finished 9th in RBI (62) and 6th in Runs scored (64). Aiden did all of that damage at the plate while hitting at an elite .489 clip in a year where Batting Averages were down across the league.

Aiden Traxler also did some damage on the bump this season as the Rookie went a perfect 3-0 on the mound while boasting an impressive 5.64 ERA to go along with 1 Save. The Lakeport Rookie showed that he could do everything as he also blossomed into one of the top young fielders in the league. Alongside his brothers, Austin and Brody, (3rd in NL ROY voting) this Lakeport squad made their mark in their inaugural season. Although their season came to an end in the ALDS vs. the Truffle Butter, the Bombers future could not be brighter.

Moving over to the National League side, it was Evan Lindzy of the Willow Creek Warpigs who received the most votes as he takes home National League Rookie of the Year honors. Lindzy was a bright spot for Willow Creek in what was a tough year for the Warpigs.

Although Willow Creek was not able to find the win column, Lindzy certainly did everything that he could to lead the charge when he was in the lineup. He finished the season with an impressive .488 Batting Average while hitting 9 Home Runs to go along with 11 RBI & 12 Runs scored. Lindzy also showed his potential on the mound as he struck out 4 batters in limited action while pitching for Willow Creek.

Awards week continues tomorrow as we will announce the winners of the American and National League Comeback Player of the Year Awards. Below are the full results for the Rookie of the Year Awards as we will post all of the Manager's ballots in full next week.

American League Rookie of the Year Vote Final Results:

1st: Aiden Traxler: 43 (Bombers)

2nd: Ethan Bumgardner: 42 (Magic)

3rd: Brody Traxler: 18 (Bombers)

4th: Tyler Mack: 3 (Cyclones)

T5th: Kyle Schieber: 1 (Truffle Butter)

T5th: Ashlen Strauch: 1 (Beers)

National League Rookie of the Year Vote Final Results

1st: Evan Lindzy: 35 (Warpigs)

2nd: Chris Davis: 29 (Warpigs)

3rd: Nick Boyd: 16 (Knights)

4th: Adam Meehan: 10 (Warpigs)