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Blizzard Elite End of Year Award Recipients Announced

04/06/2022, 12:30pm CDT
By Adam Barta, Owner | Blizzard Elite Baseball

Awards brought to you by Twin Cities Orthopedics

Age MVP Top Pitcher Top Hitter Leadership Top Defensive Player
11u Blue Cameron Favilla Connor Flanagan Owen Brookins Noah Scott Noah Scott
12u Blue Noah Riegelman Noah Riegelman Parker Reckin Brody Radtke Brody Radtke
13u Blue Easton Ahrens Matthew Grundtner Ty Beck / Carson Hart Brady Keane Oscar Waisanen
13u Black Gavin Iverson Robbie Babcock Nate Barclay Gavin Iverson Riley West
14u Blue Spencer Barta Alex Seaver / Van Tellier Spencer Barta Spencer Barta Jace Matazynski
14u Black Charlie Mueller Brendan Koester Colin Fike Charlie Mueller Henry Saunders
15u Blue Luke Adams Nick Johnson Luke Adams Maddux Schrupp Connor McLain
15u Black Joe Fredkove Carson Timm Luke Voll Tyler Allshouse Joe Anderson
16u Blue Thomas Ohotto Thomas Ohotto Tyler Guerin Hunter Carlson Hunter Carlson
16u Black Ben Johnson Brayden Morel Cayden Mueller Chase McQuade Christiaan Koehler
2023 Blue Brayden Olson Cole Spitzer Matt Maulik Brayden Olson Matt Maulik
2023 Black Mitchell Iliff Isaiah Hasz Parker Huebsch Mark Manders Jack Setterlund
2022 Blue Blake Guerin Ben Irsfeld Maddox Mihalakis Zak Endres Sam Schneider
2022 Black Reese Tripp Caleb Vanderplas Reese Tripp Timmy Boncher Cayden Cherevko
2022 Red Michael Prosch Michael Prosch Bryce Rog Michael Prosch Carter Gunderson

"Montana" Coach of the Year: Jesse Tollefson
"Diesel" Award": Cole Albers

Blizzard Elite Season: 2022-2023 Tryout Registration is *live* !

Blizzard Tryouts will be held at both Century College and the Rich Valley Baseball Complex this year the last week in June and the first week of July!  Reserve your spot to tryout for the best baseball program in the Midwest.  More info to come!

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End of the Year Awards: 2021-2022 Blizzard Elite Season

At year’s end, the Blizzard program has an awards ceremony to recognize the top players from each team.  Plaques are awarded with each player voting for their teammates in five categories: "Johnny Price" Most Valuable Player Award, "Joe Loftus" Top Hitter Award, "Logan Shore" Top Pitcher Award, "Blue gLove" Top Defensive Player Award, and the “Jake Kuschke” Leadership Award.  The staff also awards one coach with the "Montana" Coach of the Year Award.

John Price 1997 – 2015

"Johnny Price" Most Valuable Player Award

John Price IV has been recognized by his peers as one of the best players and teammates who has ever stepped on the field in a Blizzard uniform.

A division I recruit, the right-handed hitting Price was a versatile player manning the outfield and corner infield positions as well as logging innings as a hard-throwing right hander.  At the plate, Price was a middle of the order hitter leading his Blizzard teams to the playoffs in eight separate tournaments including three championships from 2013-2015.

Price had one of – if not the top – offensive weekends in Blizzard history in the 2015 ScoutStop August Select.  Price hit three home runs including two at Miesville and one in the championship game at CHS Field.  Over the course of the tournament, Price, who finished his career hitting 4-hole for the top Blizzard varsity team, went 10-for-16 (.625 BA) with 3 home runs, 10 RBI and 6 runs.

While John’s contributions were certainly valued on the field, what truly made him an MVP was his impact off the field.  Price, a friend to everyone, was the center of every Blizzard activity including team building exercises, hotel fun and van rides to and from the field.  He taught and led younger players how to play and practice; with effort and a great attitude.

He is the person who every Blizzard player should strive to be – a vibrant young man who positively impacts other people’s lives and makes every one of his teammates better.

"Joe Loftus" Top Hitter Award

The "Joe Loftus" Top Hitter Award was named for one of the best hitters to come through the Blizzard program - Joe Loftus.  Joe was a top prep athlete in Minnesota, attending Holy Angels Academy HS, where he set many of their offensive record - most notably hitting more home runs in high school than Joe Mauer.  Loftus was drafted by the Minnesota Twins out of high school, but decided to attend Vanderbilt University where he helped his team reach the College World Series in 2011.  Loftus was drafted and signed by the Arizona Diamondbacks.

"Logan Shore" Top Pitcher Award

Right-handed pitcher Logan Shore was one of Minnesota Blizzard’s premier pitchers from 2006-2013 serving as the ace on almost every team he played on.  Leading his team to six national tournament championships and four top-four finishes in his tenure, Shore will be known as one of the fiercest competitors in the Blizzard program’s history.

Shore was named to the Chicago White Sox Area Code team (2012) and was awarded the Star Tribune’s Player of the Year (2012), Minnesota Gatorade Player of the Year (2013), Minutemen Mr. Baseball Award (2013), Class AAA Minnesota Players of the Year (2013) and earned the Blizzard’s Top Pitcher Award in 2009 and 2012 while earning MVP honors in 2010-2012.  In one of the Blizzard’s biggest program wins, Shore threw a one-hit, complete game shutout, beating the nationally-ranked Cincinnati Reds Scout team 1-0 striking out 13 in the Perfect Game Kernels Championships. 

In 2013, Shore was drafted in the 29th round by the Minnesota Twins but decided to attend the University of Florida.  Shore led the Gators to the College World Series in 2015 winning two games before finishing third.  In 2014, Shore had a stellar freshman year where he earned All-American honors and was named SEC Freshman of the Year.

Logan’s impact on the Blizzard program, however, outweighs his accomplishments on the mound by being everything the Blizzard Big 5 stands for – outstanding leadership, loyalty, humility, hardworking and phenomenal teammate.

“Jake Kuschke” Leadership Award

Jake Kuschke, a 2012 graduate, played in the Blizzard program for four years and demonstrated all the characteristics of being a leader.  This award not only demonstrates achievements on the field, but more importantly, the leadership off the field.  The “Jake Kuschke” Leadership Award is awarded to the player who demonstrates the ability to being a great teammate, a mentor to younger players, a great student, hard worker and is always there for those who need to be 'picked up'.

“Blue gLove” Top Defensive Player of the Year

The Blue gLove award is named after our top defensive player each season.  Whether it be the starting shortstop, a versatile utility player or an individual who seems to make an impact with his glove every game, these defensive vacuums have shown their ability to consistently impact the outcome of many games.

"Montana" Coach of the Year Award

Steve Daugherty is regarded as one of the top coaches of the program and a player favorite.  As one of the first coaches in the Blizzard program, "Montana" has gone over the top in his efforts in making the Blizzard program one of the best in the country.  In 2009, the first Manager of the Year Award went to Steve and was named after a program favorite - Steve "Montana" Daugherty.

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