For nearly a decade, MVP Insider journalists have recognized the Brew Crew player who delivered the season that stood above the rest.
The MVP Insider Player of the Year is a Ballon d’Or-caliber acknowledgment of excellence, impact, and the moments that define a Brew Crew season.
Past Winners
- 2018: Alex Bettenhauser, RF
- 2019: Tom Brady, RF
- 2021: Nick Bettenhauser, 2B
- 2022: Nick Rizzi, LF
- 2023: Everett Wehr, LF
- 2024: Nick Bettenhauser, 2B
- 2025: Alex Bettenhauser, CF
- 2026: Jon Rich, TWP
2018: Alex Bettenhauser, RF (Rookie)
Alex Bettenhauser arrived in 2018 like a bat out of hell. The rookie injected a dying MVP side with youth, athleticism, and an edge that immediately ruffled feathers across the league.
Bettenhauser hit .745, collected 35 hits, and scored 21 runs while setting the Brew Crew single-season hits record. More importantly, he became the spark behind MVP’s only undefeated regular season, a perfect 10–0 run that reset the standard for the program.
2019: Tom Brady, RF (Rookie)
Tom Brady’s rookie season remains one of the clearest Rookie of the Year snubs in MVP history. Playing a major role in a short-handed outfield, Brady paired a polished, professional swing with relentless production: a .722 batting average, 26 hits, and the second-best average on the club.
But the numbers only tell part of the story. With a name that carried expectations and a presence that matched them, Brady gave MVP exactly what it wanted most: a championship.
2021: Nick Bettenhauser, 2B
The turn of the decade did wonders for Nick “Munchie” Bettenhauser. After steadily improving through 2018 and 2019, he broke through in 2021 with his first batting title and first Player of the Year award.
Munchie hit .727 with 24 base hits, setting the tone for another top-seeded finish. At second base, he embraced the simpler pleasures of slow-pitch softball: making the 40-foot throw, talking nonsense with opponents, and trying to turn the occasional double play with KB. He was masterful at all three.
2022: Nick Rizzi, LF
Nick Rizzi’s 2022 campaign was among the greatest sophomore leaps in Brew Crew history. His batting average rose .292 points year over year, and he turned that growth into a .750 season, 33 hits, and an MVP record 12 regular-season games played.
The Brew Crew Iron Man finished second on the team in average while leading the club in hits, but his season also became central to one of MVP’s most consequential statistical debates.
Under today’s 21-at-bat qualification standard, Rizzi would have won the batting title comfortably. The old 12-at-bat minimum instead handed the crown to fellow slugger Ryan James.
Rizzi lost the plaque, but won what mattered more: another DSSL championship.
2023: Everett Wehr, LF
Before the 2023 season, Everett Wehr predicted a Triple Crown. It was a bold declaration after he had finished 10th or worse in the relevant categories as a rookie, then, he nearly made it real.
Wehr led MVP with six home runs, 10 doubles, an MVP record at the time, and 25 RBIs. He also became the first Brew Crew player to produce a 20/20 runs-and-RBIs season, scoring 23 runs while posting a career-best .667 average.
He finished .100 points behind the batting leader, but no player did more to elevate MVP’s offense. Wehr’s bat was the loudest feature of what was then the most productive offensive season in Brew Crew history.
And he saved some of his best work for the biggest stage: a game-tying run in the 9th and a team-high five hits in the extra-inning DSSL title game, helping secure back-to-back championships.
2024: Nick Bettenhauser, 2B
Nick “Munchie” Bettenhauser became the first two-time MVP Insider Player of the Year winner in 2024, and he did it with the finest offensive season of his career to that point.
He hit a career-high .767, collected 23 hits, and claimed another batting title. Long known as a singles machine, Munchie added a new first by recording the first triple of his career. MVP’s season may have been quieter than some of its recent championship runs, but Bettenhauser made sure the standard never slipped.
He won the MVP award by the largest margin in history and helped guide the Brew Crew to a fourth consecutive top finish before the season ended in the finals.
2025: Alex Bettenhauser, CF
In his swan song as general manager, Alex Bettenhauser added a fourth individual plaque, and his second Player of the Year award, in absurd fashion. The Brew Crew’s all-time batting champion hit a record-setting .872 and piled up 41 hits, producing one of the most dominant offensive seasons in team history.
Bettenhauser carried that form into August. He earned Finals MVP honors after launching a two-run homer in the first inning and scoring a team-high three runs as MVP captured its sixth DSSL championship.
It was his second Player of the Year victory, earned over record-breaking seasons from fellow former winners Tom Brady and Nick Bettenhauser.
2026: Jon Rich, TWP
In his first year as a JM, Jon Rich delivered a campaign no one else on the roster could match. A true two-way force, Rich led the Brew Crew in nine statistical categories: wins, innings pitched, strikeouts, hits, runs, RBIs, triples, home runs, and total bases.
He finished second in batting at .610, falling only a few hits short of the organization’s first Triple Crown. Still, the speed demon got his record. Rich shattered the single-season triples record with eight—one year after the mark had already been reset in 2025.
Even in MVP’s playoff loss to the Dugouts, Rich made one final statement: a home run that punctuated the most complete individual season of the year.
MVP Brew Crew Softball Club 