2022 Listach Award winner: Tanner Houck

Tanner Houck of Tucson edged Vancouver's Frank Schwindel to win the 2022 Pat Listach Award, honoring the DMBL's top rookie, in one of the closest votes in league history after several years of runaway winners.

Houck finished with 32 points in voting and Schwindel compiled 28 points as the pair finished far ahead of the rest of the rookie field. The 26-year-old becomes the first pitcher to win the Listach since Travis Wood of Philly took home the hardware in 2011.

Houck and Schwindel each appeared on 8 of the 9 ballots submitted among the DMBL's 20 owners. The vote was decisive thanks to Houck's 5 1st-place votes, compared with Schwindel's 3. Jonathan India of Newark accounted for the other 1st-place vote, helping him to finish 3rd, tied with Tucson's Rafael Ortega who cobbled together 5 points from a 2nd-place vote and two 3rd-place votes.

Schwindel received the most 2nd-place votes (4). In all, 8 rookies - 4 batters and 4 pitchers - received votes on the 9 ballots submitted among the DMBL's 20 owners.

		1st	2nd	3rd	PTS
1	Tanner Houck, TUC	5	2	1	32
2	Frank Schwindel, VAN	3	4	1	28
3	Jonathan India, NWK	1			5
--	Rafael Ortega, TUC		1	2	5
5	Drew Rasmussen, HIL		1	1	4
6	Randy Arozarena, LOU			2	2
7	Joe Barlow, RCK			1	1
--	Tyler Wells, HBK			1	1

Allentown's Nestor Cortes initially appeared on as a Listach Award contender, however, the league's crack research staff later realized the left-hander had qualified for DMBL as a reliever in 2020. One owner re-submitted a ballot that initially included Cortes but another did not so only the 1st- and 3rd-place votes on that ballot were counted.