Lakeport's Brody Traxler and Glen Lee's Kade Stone Named 2024 MVP Award Winners

Throughout the week, we have been announcing the winners of the 2024 ORWBL regular season awards which were voted on by all sixteen Managers. 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. We will announce the winners of one award each day on the American and National League side leading up into Game 1 of the 2024 ORWBL World Series on Sunday.

Today we conclude awards week by announcing the winners of the 2024 Most Valuable Player Awards for each league. Starting off in the American League it was Brody Traxler of the Lakeport Bombers who took home the most votes to win his 1st MVP in just his 2nd season.

After a stellar Rookie season was slightly overshadowed by his brother Aiden, Brody became that guy in 2024 as he also took home 2024 ORWBL All Star Game MVP honors in what was a spectacular breakout campaign. He finished 13 votes ahead of Flat Rock's Jackson Buzea who finished 2nd in the voting after earning American League Comeback Player of the Year honors earlier in the week. Traxler finished 20 votes ahead of Maple City's Jared Jonkman who finished 3rd in the MVP voting.

Aiden Traxler led all of ORWBL with 73 Home Runs and 100 RBI while finishing with the 2nd best Average in the league at .661, just below his oldest brother Austin Traxler. It was truly a remarkable season for Aiden who was nearly impossible to get out during the 2nd half of the season.

After playing a huge part in helping New Prairie Baseball win their first ever State title he took things to the next level in ORWBL as he separated himself from the rest of the pack down the stretch. Traxler also made an impact on the mound as he finished the season with a 4-3 record to go along with 3 Saves.

He played a massive role in helping Lakeport finish their 2nd season in the league with a 21-9 record en route to finishing with the #3 seed in the American League Postseason. While the Bombers fell short to the Pandas in the ALDS, the future could not be brighter for this star studded team that is loaded with young talent.

Moving onto the National League side, it was Glen Lee's National League Triple Crown winner Kade Stone who took home the most votes to also win the National League MVP Award for the first time in his young career. He finished with 44 votes while Garrett Ruiz of the Leps finished 2nd in the voting (15) and Skeeters' teammate Nolan Crail finished in 3rd (11).

After winning the 2023 ORWBL Home Run Derby, Stone had that breakout season in 2024 that people had been predicting for many years. Stone finished the year as the National League Triple Crown Winner as he led the NL in HR (61) RBI (89) and Batting Average (.543). That is now back to back seasons in which a National League player went on to win a Triple Crown as Twin Branch's Lucas Olleti did it last season.

It was quite a remarkable year for Stone as on top of winning National League Triple Crown honors, he also went 14-7 on the mound as he was one of the top reasons why the Glen Lee Skeeters were 1 win away from heading to the ORWBL World Series. Stone was able to do it all for the Skeeters who became serious World Series contenders in 2024 and figure to be for quite some time.

We saw it coming after their Final 4 run last season to Migley at the Hometown Cup and they will certainly head into 2025 as one of the favorites to win the National League. It wasn't just Stone who took a massive leap this year as the Skeeters had 4 of the top 5 vote getters for the National League Comeback Player of the Year Award. This concludes a fantastic week for Glen Lee as they take home half of the NL regular season awards, as Stone joins Peyton Doran who won both NL Comeback Player of the Year and Manager of the Year honors.

All in all, youth movement is in full swing across the league as Traxler and Stone combine as the youngest MVP winners in ORWBL league history. You have to figure that we will be seeing these two playing in World Series games sooner rather than later as the youth movement is on.

This concludes Awards week as we will now get ready for the start of the 2024 ORWBL World Series as we see one of those teams leading the youth movement, the Mill Pond Pink Pandas playing in their first late summer classic. They will have to take down the New Carlisle Newts who are playing in their record 10th ORWBL World Series as they are 4 wins from their 4th ORWBL World Series title, seeking their first since 2016.

Games 1, 2, and 3 of the ORWBL World Series will be played on Sunday, August 25th at Migley Field with first pitch set for 1pm ET. The series will then shift to Walter Metts Field for the conclusion of the 2024 World Series as Mill Pond will host their first ever World Series games!

AL MVP Full Results:

Brody Traxler: 33

Jackson Buzea: 20

Jared Jonkman: 13

Austin Traxler: 11

Brandon Terry: 9

Zach Christy: 8

Aiden Traxler: 2

Walter Griffin III: 1

Andrew Karsten: 1

NL MVP Full Results:

Kade Stone: 44