Chicago, Ill. – Aug. 12, 2022 – The Northern League has revealed its annual award winners along with the All-Northern League Team for the 2022 season, which concluded with the Lake County Corn Dogs defeating the Northwest Indiana Oilmen in the League Championship Series earlier this week.

Justin Huisman of the Corn Dogs was named the league’s Manager of the Year, while Corn Dogs pitcher Ryan Troxel (Indiana Tech / Valparaiso, Ind.) garnered Northern League Pitcher of the Year honors. In addition, Michael Gould (Maryville / Naperville, Ill.) of the Joliet Generals was named the league’s Most Valuable Player.

Huisman joined Adam Enright and Chris Cunningham as the only managers in league history to win multiple league titles. In addition, he became the first manager in the history of the league, which began in 2010, to guide two different teams to league championships. During his first stint in the league, he led the Northwest Indiana Oilmen to the 2012 title in their inaugural season before accomplishing the same feat a decade later in the first season of Corn Dogs baseball.

Huisman’s Corn Dogs went 35-11 (.761) during the regular season, winning the league title by 8 ½ games over the second-place Southland Vikings. They shattered the league record for winning percentage that had stood since 2013 (DuPage County Hounds) while also rewriting the league’s wins record that was previously owned by the 2017 Oilmen. This was the closest Manager of the Year Vote in the league’s history, as Huisman edged Southland’s Scott Nowakowski by a single point in the balloting (two points are awarded for a first-place vote and one for a second-place vote with the panel of voters featuring managers and broadcasters from across the league.)

Troxel finished the regular season with a 5-0 record and a microscopic ERA of 0.90, allowing just four earned runs in 39 2/3 innings. He struck out 51 while issuing just 12 walks in 12 games (six starts). The only four earned runs allowed by the Corn Dogs ace all season came on July 21 against the Oilmen. The runner-up for the Pitcher of the Year Award was Max Everaert of Southland, and both Troxel and Everaert were unanimous all-league selections, the only two players to be unanimously voted onto the All-NL team.

A member of the Joliet Generals once again earned the league’s MVP as Gould followed in the footsteps of Bryce Vincent, who won the award last season. Gould posted a .398 batting average while driving in 38 runs and notching 23 extra-base hits including seven triples. He scored 40 times, slugged .633 and reached base at a .456 clip. Doug Loden of Lake County was the runner-up in the MVP voting.

2022 Northern League Major Awards 

Manager of the Year – Justin Huisman, Lake County

MVP – Michael Gould, Joliet

Pitcher of the Year – Ryan Troxel, Lake County

2022 All-Northern League Team 

DH – Doug Loden, Lake County

C – Dino Biggers, Joliet

OF – Michael Gould, Joliet

OF – Roman Kuntz, Lake County

OF – Gavin Terry, Lake County

1B – Brennan Fisher, Joliet

MIF – Diego Munoz, Joliet

MIF – Jack Zebig, NWI

3B – Jimmy Gurgone, Crestwood

P – Max Everaert, Southland (unanimous)

P – Ryan Troxel, Lake County (unanimous)

P – CJ Byrdak, NWI

P – Charlie Faoro, Crestwood

Northern League Manager of the Year History
2022 – Justin Huisman, Lake County Corn Dogs
2021 – Joe Silva, Joliet Generals
2020 – Isaac Valdez, Crestwood Panthers
2019 – Jake Wegner, Bloomington Bobcats
2018 – Ben Caple, DuPage County Hounds
2017 – Kevin Franchetti, Southland Vikings
2016 – Tom Barry, Joliet Admirals
2015 – Sean Osborne, DuPage County Hounds

Northern League MVP History
2022 – Michael Gould, Joliet Generals
2021 – Bryce Vincent, Joliet Generals
2020 – Ray Hilbrich, Crestwood Panthers
2019 – Nick Santoro, DuPage County Hounds
2018 – Nate Montgomery, NWI Oilmen
2017 – Jack Butler, Bloomington Bobcats
2016 – Tyler Sroczynski, NWI Oilmen
2015 – Tyler Sroczynski, NWI Oilmen
2014 – Bobby Sheppard & Jeff Boehm, Southland Vikings

Northern League Pitcher of the Year History
2022 – Ryan Troxel, Lake County Corn Dogs
2021 – Jack Guzek, NWI Oilmen
2020 – Jordan Smevoll, DuPage County Hounds
2019 – Justin Rios, Southland Vikings
2018 – Quinn Gudaitis, Bloomington Bobcats
2017 – Kevin Glynn, Southland Vikings
2016 – Mitch Weis, Bloomington Bobcats
2015 – Tom Concklin, DuPage County Hounds