The 2023 Northwoods League season was the 30th season of baseball in the Northwoods League, a collegiate summer baseball organization. The season concluded in August with the Green Bay Rockers winning the baseball championship.
Baseball season overview Background In 2023, there were 24 Northwoods League (NWL) baseball teams, split evenly between the Great Lakes and Great Plains Divisions. These divisions were then split up between the Great Lakes East, Great Lakes West, Great Plains East, and Great Plains West subdivisions. The Kalamazoo Growlers entered the season as defending champions, having defeated the Duluth Huskies 8-2 in the league's 2022 championship game.
The Minot Hot Tots of Minot, North Dakota were added as an expansion team, becoming the second North Dakotan team in the NWL after the Bismarck Larks. Minot had previously hosted an NWL team, the Minot Greenheads, for one season in 2000. The Hot Tots were slotted into the Great Plains West division.
The Thunder Bay Border Cats returned to the NWL after a three season hiatus due to Covid-19 restrictions on travel across the US-Canada border. The Minnesota Mud Puppies, a temporary travel team created to take the place of the Border Cats, were retained despite the return of Thunder Bay. This kept the league at an even number of teams with 24.
Season The regular season began on May 29, with the season split into two halves, and the top two teams in each sub-division—the standings leader from each half—qualified for the playoffs. The first half sub-division winners were the Traverse City Pit Spitters (Great Lakes East), Green Bay Rockers (Great Lakes West), Eau Claire Express (Great Plains East), and Willmar Stingers (Great Plains West). The second half sub-division winners were the Kalamazoo Growlers (Great Lakes East), Madison Mallards (Great Lakes West), La Crosse Loggers (Great Plains East), and St. Cloud Rox (Great Plains West).
In the four best-of-three subdivision series, the Pit Spitters took 2 of 3 from the Growlers, the Rockers swept the Mallards, the Loggers swept the Express, and the Rox swept the Stingers. In the single-game Great Lakes Division championship, the Rockers defeated the Pit Spitters, and in the Great Plains, the Rox defeated the Loggers.
The NWL Championship game was held at Joe Faber Field in St. Cloud, Minnesota on 8/18/23. Green Bay led from the third inning on, despite a late rally by the Rox in the ninth inning, and defeated St. Cloud 4-3. The Rockers won their first NWL Championship.
Individual achievements Shortstop Michael Hallquist of the Duluth Huskies was named 2023 NWL Player of the Year after batting .353 with 13 home runs, 18 doubles, three triples, and 59 RBI. Brett Sanchez of the Green Bay Rockers was named 2023 NWL Pitcher of the Year. Sanchez appeared in 10 games, going 6-2 with a 3.23 ERA. In 61.1 innings pitched, he struck out 73 batters while walking only 10. He also pitched six innings in the Rockers' NWL Championship victory, earning the win.
In the 2023 Major League Baseball draft, 90 former NWL players were selected by MLB teams, including five players going in the first round. Jacob Wilson was the highest-selected of these alums, going 6th overall to the Oakland Athletics. Condon had played for Mankato in 2021. Other first round selections were Tommy Troy (Traverse City), Kyle Teel (Wisconsin Rapids), Chase Davis (La Crosse), and Brice Matthews (St. Cloud).
Standings
Great Lakes Division + Great Lakes East Sub-Division Regular Season Standings Pos Team G W L Pct. 1y – Kalamazoo Growlers7046242Rockford Rivets7245273x – Traverse City Pit Spitters7242304 Kenosha Kingfish7231415 Kokomo Jackrabbits7227456 Battle Creek Battle Jacks722646
+ Great Lakes West Sub-Division Regular Season Standings Pos Team G W L Pct. 1x – Green Bay Rockers7241312Wisconsin Rapids Rafters7140313y – Madison Mallards7139324 Wausau Woodchucks7235375 Fond du Lac Dock Spiders7230426 Lakeshore Chinooks712744
Great Plains Division + Great Plains East Sub-Division Regular Season Standings Pos Team G W L Pct. 1 y – La Crosse Loggers6840282 Waterloo Bucks6837313 x – Eau Claire Express6736314 Duluth Huskies6836325Rochester Honkers6832366 Thunder Bay Border Cats682741 + Great Plains West Sub-Division Regular Season Standings Pos Team G W L Pct. 1x – Willmar Stingers6751162 y – St. Cloud Rox 6843253Mankato MoonDogs6838304 Bismarck Larks6726415 Minnesota Mud Puppies4412326 Minot Hot Tots671651
x – First Half Winner, clinched playoff spot y – Second Half Winner, clinched playoff spot
Playoffs
Format First and second half sub-divisional winners were eligible for the playoffs. The two playoff-eligible teams in each sub-division competed in a best-of-three Sub-Divisional Series. The two Sub-Divisional Series winners played a one-game Divisional Championship Game. The two Divisional Championship Game winners played a one-game League Championship.
Playoff bracket
Statistical leaders
For cumulative stats, leaders include all league players. For rate stats, leaders include only qualifiers. Qualified hitters must have 2.70 plate appearances per team game. Per NWL standards, qualified pitchers must have minimum .80 innings pitched per team game. This significantly limits the pool of those qualifying for pitching rate stats.
Hitting Stat Player Team Total H Kevin Fitzer Stingers 78 HR Kevin Fitzer, Michael Hallquist Stingers, Huskies 15 RBI Brandon Compton Huskies 71 AVG Joshua Duarte Huskies .398 OPS Michael Hallquist Huskies 1.115 SB Parker Brosius Pit Spitters 42
Pitching Stat Player Team Total ERA Eamon Horwedel Growlers 2.30 W Mason Meeks Growlers 7 SO Brett Sanchez Rockers 73 SV Tucker Shalley Kingfish 11
All-Star selections Mid-season All-Star Game In 2023, there were two Northwoods League All-Star Games, one for each division. The Great Lakes division game was held at Turtle Creek Stadium in Traverse City, Michigan and the Great Plains division game was held at Bismarck Municipal Ballpark in Bismarck, North Dakota. The following players were selected to participate in the All-Star games.
Great Lakes Division +Hitters PositionPlayerTeam C Tony Lindwedel Rivets C Tyler Minnick Pit Spitters C Carlos Hernandez Rockers C Canyon Brown Mallards 1B Colin Summerhill Pit Spitters 1B Colin Brueggeman Woodchucks 2B Jeter Ybarra Growlers 2B Jesse Donohoe Woodchucks 3B Glenn Miller Pit Spitters 3B Ryan Sprock Mallards SS Fischer Pyatt Battle Jacks SS Gabe Roessler Chinooks IF Nick DeMarco Rivets IF Jack Gurevitch Rafters DH Roman Kuntz Jackrabbits DH Owen Jackson Mallards OF Parker Brosius Pit Spitters OF Casen Taggert Growlers OF Lance Trippel Kingfish OF Charlie Rhee Battle Jacks OF Braden Duhon Rivets OF Karson Hesser Jackrabbits OF Dalton Pearson Woodchucks OF Travis Strickler Dock Spiders OF JoJo Jackson Rockers OF Brendan Bobo Rafters OF Ty Johnson Rafters
+Pitchers PositionPlayerTeam P Brett Sanchez Rockers P Nate Nabholz Woodchucks P Cole Hentschel Woodchucks P Jacob Rosenkranz Rafters P Calen Graham Rafters P Jacob Faulkner Rockers P Tyler Horvath Rockers P Justin Doyle Dock Spiders PBlake Kunz Chinooks P Tommy Meyer Mallards P Matt Mueller Chinooks P Kyle Stoddard Rockers P Julian Tristan Rafters P Jerad Berkenpas Growlers P Mason Meeks Growlers P Sam Carlisle Growlers P Dylan Howanitz Battle Jacks P Jonathan Laguire-Cruz Jackrabbits P Nick Powers Pit Spitters P Eamon Horwedel Growlers P CJ Fleeman Jackrabbits PTucker Shalley Kingfish P Ross Thompson Kingfish P Nick Vollmert Rivets P Mitch White Pit Spitters P Ethan Foley Pit Spitters
Great Plains Division +Hitters PositionPlayerTeam C Camden Ross Express C Dylan King Loggers C Cole Ketzner Border Cats C Ari Armas MoonDogs C Drey Dirksen Stingers 1B Ryan Nagelbach Express 1B Kip Fougerousse MoonDogs 2B Ben North Honkers 2B Nick Oakley Larks 3B Calyn Halvorson Huskies 3B Kyle Payne Stingers SS Michael Hallquist Huskies SS Ben Rosengard Larks IF Dylan O'Connell Express IF Jackson Hauge Rox IF Stone Miyao Stingers IF Tanner Recchio Mud Puppies DH Brandon Compton Huskies DH Brendan Hord MoonDogs DH Kevin Fitzer Stingers OF Joshua Duarte Huskies OF Kimo Fukofuka Honkers OF Cole Hill Bucks OF Kasen Wells Huskies OF Reed Latimer Express OF Travis Chestnut Border Cats OF Kai Roberts MoonDogs OF Max Williams MoonDogs OFJackson Beaman Larks OF Drew Woodcox Mud Puppies OF John Nett Rox OF Jack Herring Larks
+Pitchers PositionPlayerTeam P Will Lavin Honkers P Austin Humphres Huskies P Tony Pluta Loggers P Jack Pineau Border Cats P Daniel Willie Honkers P DJ Burke Huskies P Isaiah Katz Express P Will Droll Border Cats P Aaron Savary Bucks P Chaney Trout Bucks P Sam Skarich Bucks P Jake Gebb Loggers P Kolby Kiser MoonDogs P Cade Lommel Rox P Joshua Dykhoff Mud Puppies P Derrick Smith MoonDogs P Caleb Strack MoonDogs P Piercen McElyea Rox P Tommy Gross Rox P Brad Helton Larks P Grant Garza MoonDogs P John Lundgren MoonDogs P Mason Olson Rox PChris Rofe Stingers
Full-season All-Stars After the season concluded, the league announced its Post-Season All-Stars for the full regular season. This group included players who performed well over the course of the entire season. Several players were selected to both the mid-season All-Star Game and the Post-Season All-Star team.
Great Lakes Division +Hitters PositionPlayerTeam C Canyon Brown Mallards 1B Colin Brueggeman Woodchucks 2B Jesse Donohoe Woodchucks 3B Jeter Ybarra Growlers SS Cal Fisher Mallards OF Brendan Bobo Rafters OF Dalton Pearson Woodchucks OF JoJo Jackson Rockers DH Owen Jackson Mallards
+Pitchers PositionPlayerTeam P Brett Sanchez Rockers P Eamon Horwedel Growlers P Aren Gustafson Pit Spitters P Mason Meeks Growlers P Calen Graham Rafters P Josh Howitt Rafters
Great Plains Division +Hitters PositionPlayerTeam C Drey Dirksen Stingers 1B Kip Fougerousse MoonDogs 2B Stone Miyao Stingers 3B Dylan O'Connell Express SS Michael Hallquist Huskies OF Joshua Duarte Huskies OF Kai Roberts MoonDogs OF Kevin Fitzer Stingers DH Brandon Compton Huskies
+Pitchers PositionPlayerTeam P Kolby Kiser MoonDogs P Piercen McElyea Rox P Tommy Gross Rox P Tony Pluta Loggers P Chris Rofe Stingers P Aaron Savary Bucks
NWL alumni in MLB MLB players who played in the NWL in 2023 The following is a list of players who appeared in the NWL during the 2023 season, en route to a future career in MLB. Name 2023 NWL team MLB debut MLB debut teamEthan PeckoWausau Woodchucks8/19/2026Houston Astros
2023 MLB debuts The following is a list of NWL alums who made their Major League Baseball debuts in the 2023 MLB season. Name MLB debut Debut team Former NWL team(s) Season(s) in NWLGus Varland3/30BrewersStingers2017César Salazar4/2AstrosLoggers2016Jeff Lindgren4/3MarlinsLarks2017-18Jesse Scholtens4/7White SoxChinooks2015McKinley Moore4/10PhilliesRockers2018Brent Headrick4/19TwinsWoodchucks2018Michael Busch 4/25DodgersRox2017Joey Ortiz 4/27OriolesStingers2018Zach Muckenhirn5/3MetsBeetles2014-15Brandon Pfaadt5/3DiamondbacksMoonDogs2018Gavin Stone 5/3DodgersBombers, Resorters2019, 2020Matt Mervis5/5CubsGrowlers2018Brandon Williamson5/16RedsBorder Cats2017Grant Hartwig6/19MetsChinooks, Bombers 2019, 2020Alec Marsh6/30RoyalsChinooks2017Kyle Leahy7/7CardinalsBucks2016-17Zack Gelof7/14AthleticsGrowlers2019Taylor Kohlwey7/19PadresLoggers, Woodchucks2014, 2014-15Lane Ramsey8/6White SoxExpress2017Wade Meckler8/14GiantsHuskies2019Jordan Wicks8/26CubsRivets2020Mason McCoy8/30Blue JaysLoggers2015-16Nick Loftin9/1RoyalsWoodchucks2018Luke Little9/6CubsPit Spitters2019Joe Boyle9/17AthleticsGrowlers2018Cam Eden9/21Blue JaysRox2017Irving Lopez9/23CardinalsExpress2015Caleb Boushley9/29BrewersExpress2016
Awards and highlights
NWL alums selected the 2023 MLB All-Star Game:
Pete Alonso (Madison Mallards, 2014) Marcus Semien (Alexandria Beetles, 2009-10)
NWL alums awarded with a 2023 Gold Glove: Matt Chapman (La Crosse Loggers, 2012) Nico Hoerner (Madison Mallards, 2016)
NWL alums awarded with a 2023 Silver Slugger: