Washington Pulls In 8 Frontier League Postseason Awards

WASHINGTON, Pa. (September 9) - The Frontier League announced its annual postseason awards today and the Washington Wild Things' organization has taken home eight awards, including two of the league's top yearly honors. Ryan Hennen and Nick Ward were the two players honored with laurels, with Hennen leading the charge, taking home three awards, while Alex Boshers, Kyle Dawson, Rylee Shimmin and Logan Douglas were all honored as well in their respective areas.

Ryan Hennen is this year's Bryan Tollberg Award winner for the Frontier League's Pitcher of the Year. At the time of voting, the left hander and No. 2 overall draft pick in this year's Frontier League Draft led the league in ERA as a true rookie in his first season of pro ball. His 2.16 ERA is the best in the league by 0.52 points and his 11 wins are tied for second in the entire league. The former NJCAA Pitcher of the Year at Century College is the fourth Wild Thing and third left-handed pitcher to win Pitcher of the Year, as he joins Frontier League Hall of Famers Jared Howton (2002) and Aaron Ledbetter (2007) as well as lefty Thomas Dorminy (2018) in that company. 

The southpaw also took home the second Wild Things' Jason Simontacchi Award for Rookie of the Year, joining Casey Barnes (2011) as winners of that award in the organization's history. Hennen is also the lone Wild Thing on the 2021 Can-Am Conference Post-Season All Star Team as the team's starting pitcher. Howton (2002), Ledbetter (2007), Trevor Foss (2016) and Dorminy (2018) have also been honored as Post-Season All-Star Starting Pitchers.

Nick Ward has become the fourth Wild Thing to win the Fran Riordan Citizenship Award joining Randy McGarvey (2005), Gary Lee (2012) and Rashad Brown (2017) as Wild Things to secure the prestigious honor. As the league states, the Citizenship Award is given to the player that best exemplifies good citizenship off the field and in his community in the League. Ward played for Riordan, who manages the Triple-A affiliated of the Oakland A's, during his time in the A's farm system. The Wild Things' front office has received a number of emails and messages regarding Ward's interactions with fans both at Wild Things Park and on the road. The character shown by Ward and his teammates in interacting with fans, kids and those in the community is exemplary of what the Wild Things' organization strives to be. 

Alex Boshers, in his first season with the team, has been selected by voters as the winner of the Darren Bush Award for Coach of the Year. As Washington's pitching coach, Boshers has guided the pitching staff to a top three ERA in the league and being among the two best teams in fewest walks issued this season. Couple that with Boshers stepping into a role with the staff on the mound and you've got this year's assistant Coach of the Year in the Frontier League. Boshers joins Mark Mason (2006) as Wild Things' coaches to receive the honor.

For the second-straight championship season, the team's lead broadcaster and media relations man Kyle Dawson has been selected as the Frontier League's Robert Ford Award winner for Broadcaster of the Year. After winning the award in 2019, Dawson became the first Wild Things' broadcaster since Randy Gore (2008, 2011) to win the award. His second honor equals Gore's. 

Rylee Shimmin is the organization's first Athletic Trainer of the Year in the league. Shimmin is in her first season with the club after working with the University of Georgia baseball team for a season and graduating from Georgia College and State University (undergrad) and the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (Master's). 

Finally, the award announced yesterday and the first to be announced was Logan Douglas winning Photographer of the Year, as voted by the fans on the league's website and social media platforms over the last week. Logan was a photography intern with the team this season and was, along with Conner Kelly, the guy who contributed the most to the photography content used across all Wild Things' media this season. 

"It’s a great honor to have so many of our players and staff recognized for their hard work," said president and general manager Tony Buccilli. "We look forward to building on these successes as we continue this season."

Manager Tom Vaeth added: "Very happy for all the winners: they are very much deserving of their awards. It has been a great year for the Wild Things' organization and we are all proud of their accomplishments."

A full list of award winners and press release from the league is available on the Frontier League's website at frontierleague.com.