Chatham-Kent's Morrison named IBL Rookie of the Year
Evan Morrison (Mitchell, Ont.), of the Chatham-Kent Barnstormers, has been named the Intercounty Baseball League’s Rookie of the Year. Photo: Mark Malone, Chatham Daily News/Intercounty Baseball League
September 22, 2025
Official Intercounty Baseball League News Release
The Intercounty Baseball League’s batting champion is also its Rookie of the Year.
Chatham-Kent's Evan Morrison (Mitchell, Ont.) won the Brian Kerr Memorial Trophy after hitting a league-best .422 in 35 games with the Barnstormers. No other IBL player cracked the .400 mark in 2025.
Morrison, 22, had 65 hits – second-most in the league behind Welland’s Jonah Weisner.
The all-star second baseman also hit four home runs and drove in 23 while striking out only 11 times, the fewest among qualified batters.
Morrison is the first Barnstormer to win the award named after Kerr, the former Waterloo Tigers player and Kitchener Panthers manager. London’s Kaiden Cardoso won the award in 2024.
The Most Valuable Player will be announced on Tuesday.
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
Brian Kerr Memorial Trophy
1971 John Osborne, Toronto
1972 Terry Holbrook, London
1973 Bill Carey, Guelph
1974 Phil Schmidt, London
1975 Jamie Corke, Brantford
1976 Craig Kennedy, Brantford
1977 Bruno Jurgaitis, Toronto
1978 John Gourley, London
1979 Paul McKeegan, Toronto
1980 Joe Ivan, Windsor
1981 Mike Holgate, Windsor
1982 Scott Mann, Cambridge
1983 Paul Fulton, Stratford
1984 Paul Kirkpatrick, Toronto
1985 Randy Curran, Kitchener
1986 Martin Cauchon, St. Thomas
1987 Mike Dorrington, Brantford
1988 Richard Thompson, London
1989 Clark Austin, Guelph
1990 Rick Ross, St. Thomas
1991 Rob Nixon, Toronto
1992 Todd Hlushko, Guelph
1993 Dean Castelli, Hamilton
1994 Todd Schell, Stratford
1995 Jason Gooding, Brantford
1996 Dominic Campeau, Toronto
1997 Matt Stockman, Toronto
1998 Brad Drew, Guelph
1999 Chad Ertel, Toronto
2000 John Ogiltree, Guelph
2001 Cameron Newitt, Toronto
2002 Brad Grievison, Barrie
2003 Harpreet Padda, Kitchener
2004 T.J. Shimizu, Brantford
2005 Ryan Asis, Guelph
2006 Rudy Vallejos, London
2007 Lee Witmer, Kitchener
2008 Randy Schwartz, Barrie
2009 Marcus Knecht, Oshawa
2010 Andy St. Gelais, London
2011 Shaun Valeriote, Kitchener
2012 Clay Caufield, Toronto
2013 Tanner Nivins, Kitchener
2014 Chandler McLaren, Guelph
2015 Adam Odd, Burlington
2016 Connor Morro, Barrie
2017 Zac Orchard, Toronto
2018 Garret Takamatsu, Toronto
2019 Brendon Dadson, Welland
2020 No season
2021 Hayden Jaco, London
2022 Sam Cawker, Welland
2023 Matthew Fabian, Brantford
2024 Kaiden Cardoso, London
2025 Evan Morrison, Chatham-Kent