Two Rafters Awarded Rawlings ‘Finest in the Field’

~ From Rapids Rafters ~

Wisconsin Rapids, Wis. – Since 2002, Rawlings has rewarded the top defenders in the Northwoods League each season. These nine players are recognized as the best defensive players throughout the entire Northwoods League. To qualify for the ‘Finest in the Field’ Award, a field player needs to appear in at least half of the scheduled games in a specific position. As for pitchers, the player that has the highest total defensive chances without committing an error earns the award.

This season Andy Garriola (Old Dominion) and Nathan Hemmerling (Lakeland) were crowned as the ‘Finest in the Field’. Both Rafters maintained a fielding percentage of 1.000. Garriola played in 40 of the 46 games on the season, making a majority of his appearances in the outfield. Throughout the 314 innings that he played, Garriola had a successful 103 total chances with 98 putouts. He also tallied 5 assists and 7 double plays with a range factor of 2.952.

Hemmerling was the lone pitcher in the Northwoods League to win the award. He started in 8 games, throwing 21 innings of work. Hemmerling had 10 total chances and one putout. He topped his defense off with 9 assists and one double play. Hemmerling also had a range factor 4.286.

The 2020 Rawlings ‘Finest in the Field’ Award recipients and their respective fielding percentages are below:

Position	Player	NWL Team	College	Fielding Percentage
C	Patrick Arndt	Kalamazoo Mac Daddies	Bellarmine	.990
1B	Kyle Manzardo	Willmar Stingers	Washington State	.995
2B	Andrew Meggs	La Crosse Loggers	Creighton	.991
3B	J.T. Thompson	La Crosse Loggers	Texas State	.988
SS	Connor McGuire	Kalamazoo Mac Daddies	California, Irvine	.972
OF	Kyle Ashworth	Kalamazoo Mac Daddies	Cal Poly	1.000
OF	Xane Washington	Waterloo Bucks	Nicholls State	1.000
OF	Andy Garriola	Wisconsin Rapids Rafters	Old Dominion	1.000
P	Nathan Hemmerling	Wisconsin Rapids Rafters	Lakeland University	1.000

 

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