Cards' Zach Rehlander and Panthers Griffin Smith each win their 1st Manager of the Year award

Throughout the week, the Old Republic Wiffleball League will be handing out its yearly honors. Today we announce the winners of the Manager of the Year awards from both the American and National League.

Bourissa Hills Wildcards manager Zach Rehlander and Granger Panthers manager Griffin Smith were named ORWBL's Managers of the Year as voted on by all fourteen skippers.

In the American League, we saw one of the closest three way votes that we have see in recent memory. When it was all said and done, it was the longtime Wildcards skipper who received just enough support, edging out County Line's Mike Forrester and Maple City's Alex Friedman by 1 vote each (23-22-22).

By winning the award on the American League side, Rehlander dethrones Maple City's Alex Friedman who had won the vote in each of the past four seasons.

Although Friedman, Forrester, and Richards all made compelling cases to win the award, Rehlander was able to earn enough support from the voters after leading the Bourissa Hills franchise to their first winning season since 2010 when they were still under the Bourissa Hills Pterodactyls name.

With the league's youth movement in full effect, Rehlander is actually the 4th longest tenured ORWBL Manager behind New Carlisle's Koby Keck, Maple City's Alex Friedman, and Hudson Lake's Jared Monhaut.

Now in his 6th season at the helm, Zach Rehlander certainly put together his best year of managerial work. After starting the season 2-10, Bourissa Hills went on to win 11 of their last 12 games with all 12 games being played on the road.