CHICAGO — The Midwest Collegiate League has announced their award winners for the 2017 season.
The season ended on Tuesday, August 8 where the Southland Vikings defeated the Bloomington Bobcats, 6-0, to win their third MCL Championship.
Most Valuable Player-Jack Butler (Downs, Ill./Illinois State), Bloomington Bobcats
Jack Butler from the Midwest Collegiate League runner-up won the MCL Most Valuable Player award for the 2017 season. Butler redshirted his freshman season at Illinois State and will head into his second year at Illinois State with a resume builder. Butler hit .425 in 41 starts, slugged .561 for Bloomington this season, which led the MCL, racked up 68 hits, nine of which were doubles, smashed two home runs, 30 RBI and 36 runs scored. Butler led the Bobcats to the MCL Championship in their second year in the MCL, falling to the Southland Vikings in three games.
Pitcher of the Year: Kevin Glynn (Chicago, Ill./South Suburban), Southland Vikings
Kevin Glynn from the MCL Champion Southland Vikings, won pitcher of the year. Glynn is going into his sophomore year of college for the Bulldogs with some confidence. Glynn dazzled all-year long on the mound for the MCL Champions. Making 11 starts for the Vikings, going 6-2, posting a 1.72 ERA in 69 innings pitched and struck out 50. He held opposing batters to a .225 batting average. Glynn’s highlight came in Game 2 of the MCL Championship, where he had a complete game shutout to force a winner-take-all Game 3. He pitched all nine, allowing only one hit, issuing two walks and striking out six.
Reliever of the Year: Rory Gard (Schererville, Ind./Trinity Christian), Northwest Indiana Oilmen
Rory Gard from the MCL Regular Season Champion Northwest Indiana Oilmen takes home reliever of the year in the league. Gard was an absolute force coming out the pen for the Oilmen this season. Gard made 16 appearances in relief for NWI, picking up four saves, threw 20 innings, striking out 11. Gard posted MCL records in his year with the Oilmen (0.41 ERA), (0.77 WHIP) (Walks plus hits per innings pitched) and had a .203 Batting Average Against. Gard helped the Oilmen to a regular season record of 34-16, best regular season in Oilmen history.
Manager of the Year: Kevin Franchetti, Southland Vikings
Kevin Franchetti from the Southland Vikings takes home the MCL Manager of the Year. Franchetti in his season with the Vikings led them to a 28-22 regular season record. Going into the MCL Playoffs, Southland was the No. 3 seed going into the playoffs. The Vikings met up with the DuPage County Hounds in the MCL Semifinals, where they came back to win two games in a row after losing the first game. The Vikings advanced to the MCL Championship for the first time since 2013, Vikings once again lost game 1 but did not give up and won two games in a row to win their third ever MCL Crown. Southland went 18-26 and finished in fifth place in 2016 and were in last place in 2015 and went 12-29.