The Northwoods League is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league. All players in the league must have NCAA eligibility remaining in order to participate. The league is amateur, and players are not paid, so as to maintain their college eligibility. Graduated senior pitchers are also eligible to play in the Northwoods League. Each team may have four of these players at a time.
 | |
| Sport | Baseball |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1994 |
| Divisions | Great Lakes Division, Great Plains Division |
| No. of teams | 26 |
| Countries | United States, Canada |
| Continent | North America |
| Most recent champion(s) | Green Bay Rockers (2023) |
| Most titles | Rochester Honkers (5) |
| Level on pyramid | Summer Collegiate |
| Official website | northwoodsleague |
Teams play 70 games scheduled from Memorial Day to the 2nd Saturday in August, while the playoffs take place the week after, starting on that Sunday and ending usually on Friday. The season itself is broken into two halves, with the winners of each half in each of the four sub-divisions playing against each other to determine a sub-divisional champion in a best-of-three series. The sub-divisional champions then meet in a winner-take-all game to determine a divisional champion. The divisional champions then meet in a winner-take-all game for the league championship.
In 2020, some teams cancelled their season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. For those teams that did play, instead of playing within their usual divisions, they played in hub regions, with some creating "temporary teams".
In 2023, the Northwoods League announced plans to create a new softball league. The softball league will initially consist of four teams, based in Madison (Madison Night Mares) and La Crosse, Wisconsin (La Crosse Steam); Mankato, Minnesota (Mankato Habeneros); and Minot, North Dakota (Minot Honeybees).[1]
Established in 1994, the Northwoods League was the first for-profit summer collegiate baseball league. It has more teams and plays more games than any other summer collegiate baseball league.[2] The Northwoods League drew over 1.1 Million fans for the fourth consecutive year in 2017. The purpose of the league is to develop players while college baseball teams are not allowed to work out. Many of the teams in the league play in ballparks formerly occupied by professional clubs from the Midwest League, Prairie League, Northern League, and Frontier League. The wooden bat circuit allows communities deemed too small for professional ball to continue to enjoy high-quality, competitive baseball during the summer months. The Northwoods League was the first summer collegiate baseball league to broadcast on the ESPN network, and currently webcasts all of its games.
The teams are located in the Northwoods region of the Upper Midwestern United States and Northwestern Ontario, mostly in the U.S. statesofMinnesota (five teams) and Wisconsin (nine teams); also with four teams in Michigan, three in North Dakota, and one team each in Iowa, Illinois, Indiana and Ontario.
Over 200 league alumni have gone on to play in Major League Baseball (MLB) with 91 alumni entering the MLB ranks from 2013 to 2017. Alumnus Max Scherzer, the 2017 National League Cy Young Award winner, and American League runner-up Chris Sale faced each other as the starting pitchers in the 2017 and 2018 Major League Baseball All-Star Games.
In small cities it may be hard to find the financial stability in a newly-founded baseball league. League leaders realized they needed to gain significant revenue from sponsors in order to succeed. According to league Chairman and co-founder Dick Radatz, Jr, two-thirds of the revenue comes from sponsors and the remainder from ticket sales, concessions, and team merchandise. Radatz also noted the importance of having the sponsor revenue before the beginning of the season.[3]
100km
62miles
Rafters
13
Woodchucks
12
Rockers
11
Dock Spiders
10
Chinooks
9
Mallards
8
Leprechauns
7
Kingfish
6
Rivets
5
Jackrabbits
4
Pit Spitters
3
Growlers
2
Battle Jacks
1
Great Lakes West Division
1
Battle Creek Battle Jacks2
Kalamazoo Growlers3
Traverse City Pit Spitters4
Kokomo Jackrabbits5
Rockford Rivets6
Kenosha Kingfish7
Royal Oak Leprechauns8
Madison Mallards9
Lakeshore Chinooks10
Fond du Lac Dock Spiders11
Green Bay Rockers12
Wausau Woodchucks13
Wisconsin Rapids Rafters
100km
62miles
Loggers
12
Express
11
Bucks
10
Honkers
9
Huskies
8
Border Cats
7
MoonDogs
6
Stingers
5
Rox
4
Larks
3
Hot Tots
2
Big Sticks
1
Great Plains West Division
1
Badlands Big Sticks2
Minot Hot Tots3
Bismarck Larks4
St. Cloud Rox5
Willmar Stingers6
Mankato MoonDogs7
Thunder Bay Border Cats8
Duluth Huskies9
Rochester Honkers10
Waterloo Bucks11
Eau Claire Express12
La Crosse Loggers13
Minnesota Mud Puppies (Not pictured)
| Team | Location | Stadium | Capacity |
|---|---|---|---|
| La Crosse Steam | La Crosse, Wisconsin | Copeland Park | 3,550 |
| Madison Night Mares | Madison, Wisconsin | Warner Park | 7,500 |
| Mankato Habaneros | Mankato, Minnesota | ISG Field | 4,000 |
| Minot Honeybees | Minot, North Dakota | Corbett Field | 1,266 |
200km
125miles
Madison Night Mares
4
La Crosse Steam
3
Mankato Habaneros
2
Minot Honeybees
1
1
2
Mankato Habaneros3
La Crosse Steam4
Madison Night Mares
| Season | Champion | Runner-up | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Rochester Honkers | --- | --- |
| 1995 | Kenosha Kroakers | Manitowoc Skunks | 2-0 |
| 1996 | Waterloo Bucks | Rochester Honkers | 2-0 |
| 1997 | Rochester Honkers (2) | Waterloo Bucks | 2-1 |
| 1998 | St. Cloud River Bats | Rochester Honkers | 2-0 |
| 1999 | Rochester Honkers (3) | St. Cloud River Bats | 2-1 |
| 2000 | St. Cloud River Bats (2) | Waterloo Bucks | 2-0 |
| 2001 | Wisconsin Woodchucks | St. Cloud River Bats | 2-1 |
| 2002 | Waterloo Bucks (2) | Brainerd Mighty Gulls | 2-0 |
| 2003 | Wisconsin Woodchucks (2) | St. Cloud River Bats | 2-1 |
| 2004 | Madison Mallards | Duluth Huskies | 2-0 |
| 2005 | Thunder Bay Border Cats | Madison Mallards | 2-1 |
| 2006 | Rochester Honkers (4) | Thunder Bay Border Cats | 2-0 |
| 2007 | St. Cloud River Bats (3) | Eau Claire Express | 2-0 |
| 2008 | Thunder Bay Border Cats (2) | Madison Mallards | 2-1 |
| 2009 | Rochester Honkers (5)[7] | La Crosse Loggers | 2-1 |
| 2010 | Eau Claire Express | Rochester Honkers | 2-1 |
| 2011 | Battle Creek Bombers | Mankato MoonDogs | 2-0 |
| 2012 | La Crosse Loggers | Mankato MoonDogs | 2-0 |
| 2013 | Madison Mallards (2)[8] | Duluth Huskies | 2-0 |
| 2014 | Lakeshore Chinooks[9] | Mankato MoonDogs | 2-0 |
| 2015 | Kenosha Kingfish[10] | St. Cloud Rox | 2-0 |
| 2016 | Wisconsin Rapids Rafters | Eau Claire Express | 2-0 |
| 2017 | St. Cloud Rox (4) | Battle Creek Bombers | 2-1 |
| 2018 | Fond du Lac Dock Spiders | Duluth Huskies | 2-1 |
| 2019 | Traverse City Pit Spitters | Eau Claire Express | 3-2 |
| 2020 | No official league champion as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic | --- | --- |
| 2021 | Traverse City Pit Spitters (2) | St. Cloud Rox | 9-3 |
| 2022 | Kalamazoo Growlers | Duluth Huskies | 8-3 |
| 2023 | Green Bay Rockers | St. Cloud Rox | 4-3 |
From 1995-2018, the league championship series was a best-of-3 between the two division champions. When the league expanded in 2019, the championship became a one-game playoff.
2020 Pod Champions[11]
| Pod | Champion | Result(Record) |
|---|---|---|
| Kenosha | Kenosha Kingfish | 17-9 |
| Michigan North | Traverse City Pit Spitters | 33-8 |
| Michigan South | Kalamazoo Growlers | 40-25 |
| Minnesota-Iowa | Waterloo Bucks | 28-13 |
| North Dakota | Bismarck Larks | 33-15 |
| Wisconsin-Illinois (East) | Fond du Lac Dock Spiders | 31-17 |
| Wisconsin-Illinois (West) | Wisconsin Rapids Rafters | 35-11 |
The Northwoods League, in addition to being a developmental league for players and coaches, is also a developmental league for umpires. The concentrated game schedule, travel, and Minor League-like game conditions give NWL umpires a pre-professional experience. Since the League's inaugural season in 1994, 44 of its former umpires have furthered their careers in affiliated professional baseball.
The League recruits its umpires from the two umpire schools whose curricula have been approved by the Professional Baseball Umpire Corps. (PBUC): The Minor League Umpire training Academy and Harry Wendelstedt School for Umpires. The umpires ultimately chosen are usually among the top school graduates who were then selected to the pre-season, PBUC sponsored Umpire Evaluation Course.
The NWL contracts with eleven three-man crews during the regular season, a six-man crew during the mid-season All-Star game, and six umpires for both the divisional playoffs and championship series.