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RIPON, Wis. - Ripon and St. Norbert share honors in the 2013 Midwest Conference (MWC) All-North Division Baseball team after both had successful seasons that resulted in finals appearances at the 2013 MWC Baseball Championship. Ripon first baseman Adam Grambow was named North Division Player of the Year while St. Norbert’s Brett Nohr earned the North Division Pitcher of the Year. Ripon Head Coach Eric Cruise was awarded North Division Coach of the Year honors after leading the Red Hawks to a berth in the NCAA Tournament.

This is the second time in three years that a Ripon player earned the North Division Player of the Year award as John Henrickson won it in 2011. This season Grambow hit .364 and was one of three Ripon players with six home runs. He also added eight doubles and a .956 OPS while scoring 34 runs for a Red Hawks lineup that finished second in the league with 276 runs scored. Grambow hit .391 in four games during the MWC Championship and scored three runs while driving in five.

Nohr became the fourth St. Norbert pitcher to win North Division Pitcher of the Year in the school’s history after a strong freshman campaign. He finished tied for second in the league with a 2.79 ERA and had a 7-1 record in eight starts. He allowed opposing hitters to bat only .259 against him and only walked ten batters in 58 innings. 

Cruise is the first Red Hawks coach to win North Division Coach of the Year since 2006 and he did so in his first season at the helm. In 2013 Ripon captured the North Division title and winning its 20th MWC Championship in school history. Ripon led the ten team league in hits (416), slugging percentage (.435), and home runs (25).

Ripon led all North Division teams with six First Team award winners. Joining Grambow was Kyle Bosquez who led the league with 46 runs scored and a .343 average while the outfield duo of Tom Sawyer and Taylor Koth also were named. Koth finished sixth with a .383 average and led the team with a .466 on base percentage with Sawyer batting .369 with five triples. Steve Blader and Pat Van Daalwyk headlined the Red Hawks staff on the first team as Blader posted a 3.75 ERA and four wins while Van Daalwyk led the team with a 2.83 ERA in 63.2 innings and 46 strikeouts. St. Norbert had four players join Nohr including position players Travis Mason, Troy Rottier, and Alex Larsen along with pitcher Kevin Nutley. Larsen led the team with a .356 average and also hit six home runs with Rottier hitting .327 with 11 doubles and three home runs. Mason pulled double duties, hitting .327 with four triples and four home runs and posted a 3.71 ERA in 26.2 innings. Nutley won five games for the Green Knights with a 3.04 ERA and held opposing batters to only a .225 average. Andrew Edwards represents Beloit after a season where he won three games with a 3.88 ERA and joins fellow pitcher Alex Brewer of Lawrence as their teams lone representatives after Brewer led the Vikings in wins (four), ERA (3.52), and opposing batting aveage (.264). Joe Klobukowski (Carroll) rounds out the All-North Division list hitting .376 with five home runs and 30 runs batted in.

South Division champion Knox nearly swept the awards as part of the 2013 Midwest Conference (MWC) All-South Division Baseball team. Caleb Weaver (Knox) and Zach Rogers (Cornell) were named South Division Co-Player of the Year while Prairie Fire pitcher Paul Mills was tabbed South Division Pitcher of the Year. Jami Isaacson was named South Division Coach of the Year after leading the Prairie Fire to the MWC Championship Tournament for the second consecutive year.

Weaver is the first Knox positional player to win the Player of the Year award since Kevin Malone won it in 2009 and is the sixth player in school history to win the award. Weaver finished fourth in the league with a .396 average while also finishing third with a .583 slugging percentage that included 15 doubles, four home runs, and 39 runs batted in. He also scored 30 runs, had 57 hits, and 84 total bases in 33 games played.

Rogers is the first Ram to win the award in the first season that Cornell was back in the MWC since the 1997 season. Rogers led all players in the conference in average (.473), OPS (1.352), hits (62), triples (seven), and home runs (six) while only striking out 20 times in 156 plate appearances. In 34 games played this season Rogers had 19 multi-hit games and ended the season on a ten game hitting streak.

Mills is the first Knox pitcher to be named Pitcher of the Year after a season where he went 4-1 with a 4.08 ERA. In 39.2 innings Mills struck out 26 batters and held opposing hitters to a .239 average.

Isaacson won his third South Division Coach of the Year award and the first since 2008. He guided the Prairie Fire to a 22-13 record and a 13-3 divisional record. Under his watch Knox finished with a .290 batting average (fourth in MWC), collected 355 hits (fourth in MWC), and slugged 68 doubles (third in MWC).

Knox had three others join Mills and Weaver on the first team that included Kyle Walenga, Erik Smoy, and Phil Tallman. Smoy was second on the team with a .364 average with Tallman stealing 12 bases and hitting .316 and Walengra belting nine doubles and hitting .280. Grinnell placed four on the All-South Division team led by Kainora Inafuku who hit .344 with 43 hits and a .406 on base percentage while Walker Bell (.311. ten doubles) and Jason Ormond (4-3, 2.35 ERA, .247 opp. average) also were honored. For Illinois Col. Matt Pardo hit .374 with ten doubles and two home runs while Dave Pardo went 5-1 with a 2.79 ERA in both being named to the first team. Monmouth had two representatives in Ryan Crandall (.414, 13 2B, 1.052 OPS) and Jordan Gaither (11 2B, 19 RBI) while Joe Gerace (Cornell) rounds out the All-South Division after hitting .426 and hitting three home runs for the Rams.

2013 North Division Award Winners

Player of the Year	Adam Grambow	Ripon College
Pitcher of the Year	Brett Nohr	St. Norbert College
Coach of the Year	Eric Cruise	Ripon College

2013 All-Midwest Conference North Division Team

Position	Athlete	Year	School
First Base	Joe Klobukowski	Junior	Carroll University
First Base	Adam Grambow	Senior	Ripon College
First Base	Travis Mason	Junior	St. Norbert College
Second Base	Kyle Bosquez	Senior	Ripon College
Third Base	Troy Rottier	Sophomore	St. Norbert College
Outfield	Tom Sawyer	Junior	Ripon College
Outfield	Taylor Koth	Senior	Ripon College
Outfield	Alex Larsen	Junior	St. Norbert College
Pitcher	Alex Brewer	Senior	Lawrence University
Pitcher	Steven Blader	Senior	Ripon College
Pitcher	Pat Van Daalwyk	Sophomore	Ripon College
Pitcher	Brett Nohr	Freshman	St. Norbert College
Pitcher	Kevin Nutley	Junior	St. Norbert College
Pitcher	Andrew Edwards	Senior	Beloit College

2013 South Division Award Winners

Player of the Year	Zach Rogers	Cornell College
	Caleb Weaver	Knox College
Pitcher of the Year	Paul Mills	Knox College
Coach of the Year	Jami Isaacson	Knox College

2013 All-Midwest Conference South Division Team

Position	Athlete	Year	School
Catcher	Jordan Gaither	Senior	Monmouth College
First Base	Walker Bell	Sophomore	Grinnell College
Second Base	Ryan Crandall	Junior	Monmouth College
Second Base	Phil Tallman	Junior	Knox College
Shortstop	Matt Pardo	Junior	Illinois College
Shortstop	Zach Rogers	Senior	Cornell College
Shortstop	Kyle Walenga	Senior	Knox College
Third Base	Kainoa Inafuku	Junior	Grinnell College
Outfield	Joe Gerace	Junior	Cornell College
Outfield	Caleb Weaver	Senior	Knox College
Outfield	Erik Smoy	Junior	Knox College
Pitcher	Jason Ormond	Senior	Grinnell College
Pitcher	Dave Pardo	Senior	Illinois College
Pitcher	Paul Mills	Junior	Knox College