Chatham-Kent's Morrison named Rookie of the Year

Photo Credits  Mark Malone - Chatham Daily News

The Intercounty Baseball League’s batting champion is also its Rookie of the Year.  

Chatham-Kent's Evan Morrison 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