FARGO, N.D.  – The American Association of Independent Professional Baseball has named RedHawks pitcher Tyler Grauer as the 2022 Rookie Pitcher of the Year. An internal vote among General Managers, Field Managers, Media Directors, and Broadcasters selected the winners for all Postseason Awards.

Grauer is in his second season with the RedHawks, going 10-5 on the year, with a 3.51 ERA in 125.2 innings pitched through 21 games. He finished the 2022 regular season as the fifth pitcher in the league's top ten, and his ten wins tied teammate Kevin McGovern as the most wins by a pitcher this year. In addition, Grauer was third in the AAPB with innings pitched and fifth in batters faced (514).

RedHawks manager Chris Coste said, "We are proud of the pitcher Tyler has turned into this season, and we are excited to see where his future in baseball takes him because the best is still to come."

In 2021, the Kansas native played for the West Virginia Black Bears, a collegiate summer baseball team in the MLB Draft League, after four years at Indiana State University (NCAA). Grauer pitched in 13 games for the Black Bears before being signed by the RedHawks on August 7, 2021.

In his first season with the RedHawks, Grauer pitched 9.1 innings in nine games (0-0) with an ERA of 1.92,  allowing 12 hits and striking out ten batters.

Grauer graduated from Indiana State University with a bachelor's degree in Recreation and Sports Management in 2021. Although his last season was cut short due to COVID, he was named to the MVC Scholar-Athlete Team. Grauer appeared in seven games out of the bullpen for the Sycamores, recording a team-high five saves, finishing the year with a 1.59 ERA over 11.1 innings to go with a 0-1 record. He allowed just two earned runs on 11 hits. In addition, he had one of the nation's best strikeout-to-walk ratios, with 23 batters going down on strikeouts while issuing just one walk.

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