With his Gary Southshore RailCats headed to Kansas City, Mo., and dreaming of capturing the Northern League Championship, former Illini infielder Mike Rohde can already lay claim to some hardware.

Rohde received the Northern League Rookie of the Year award on Tuesday after finishing 10th in the league with a .319 batting average and leading all first basemen with a .995 fielding percentage.

The Shaumburg Flyers signed the fifth-year senior in 2007 after Rohde had a series of standout seasons splitting time between first and third base during his three years at Illinois.