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University of Wisconsin-La Crosse’s Taylor Kohlwey and UW-Whitewater’s Mikole Pierce were selected Co-Position Players of the Year, while UW-Stevens Point’s Luke Watson earned the Pitcher of the Year honor to lead the individuals recognized on the 2014 All-Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Baseball Team by the league coaches.  UW-Whitewater head coach John Vodenlich was chosen the Coach of the Year.
 
Kohlwey leads the WIAC with a .459 batting average, 84 hits and 56 runs scored, while placing third with 13 stolen bases, fourth with 49 RBI and a .500 on-base percentage, and fifth with a .710 slugging percentage.  He is currently riding a 27-game hitting streak and has accumulated multiple hits in 26 games, including a season-best four on five occasions.  Kohlwey’s hitting streak is one short of tying the program record.
 
Pierce also claimed first team recognition a season ago.  This year, he ranks second in the conference with 71 hits, 54 runs scored, six triples, 14 stolen bases and a .515 on-base percentage, third with nine home runs and 51 RBI, and fourth with a .438 batting average and a .728 slugging percentage.  Pierce has recorded at least one hit in 38 games and owns 23 multi-hit contests, including a season-high four three times.
 
This marks the second time in the last three seasons multiple players have shared the Position Player of the Year honor.
 
Watson’s selection commemorates the third consecutive season the Pointers have boasted the league’s Pitcher of the Year.  He owns a WIAC-leading 2.03 earned run average and seven victories, while ranking second with a .195 opposing batting average, and sixth with 50 strikeouts and 62.0 innings pitched.  He had a season-high 11 strikeouts in his first starting assignment of the year against William Paterson University (N.J.) on March 17.  Watson has allowed three or fewer earned runs in all eight of his starts.
 
Repeat selections on the first team from a season ago included UW-Whitewater’s Jared Fon and Scott Plaza.  Fon also collected first team recognition in 2012 when he was tabbed the Position Player of the Year.  He was joined on the 2012 first team by UW-La Crosse’s Cole Cefalu, UW-Stevens Point’s Cam Seidl (Pitcher of the Year) and UW-Whitewater’s Dylan Friend.
 
Vodenlich earned the coaching honor for the second straight year and sixth time in his career after directing the Warhawks to the WIAC regular-season and tournament titles.  UW-Whitewater also earned a spot in the NCAA Division III championship for the 17th time in program history.
 
An All-Sportsmanship Team was chosen for individuals that displayed exemplary sportsmanship throughout the season.  It included one member from each school.
 
2014 All-WIAC Baseball Team

Co-Position Players of the Year:  Taylor Kohlwey of La Crosse and Mikole Pierce of Whitewater
Pitcher of the Year:  Luke Watson of Stevens Point
Coach of the Year:  John Vodenlich of Whitewater
Max Sparger Scholar-Athlete:  Brad Stroik of Stevens Point

First Team
Name, School, Year, Position, Hometown (High School)
Shane Adler, La Crosse, Junior, Righthanded Pitcher, Cross Plains, Wis. (Middleton)
Mike Boushley, Platteville, Junior, Righthanded Pitcher, Hortonville, Wis.
Brady Burzynski, Stout, Sophomore, Centerfield, Eau Claire, Wis. (Memorial)
Zach Carlson, Stout, Freshman, Righthanded Pitcher, Indian Head Park, Ill. (Lyons Township)
Cole Cefalu, La Crosse, Senior, Outfield, Waunakee, Wis.
Ben Cejka, La Crosse, Junior, Righthanded Pitcher, Holmen, Wis.
Tom Fairbanks, Superior, Senior, Rightfield, Brainerd, Minn.
Jared Fon, Whitewater, Senior, Thirdbase, Germantown, Wis.
Ryan Freitag, Stout, Junior, Rightfield, Osseo, Wis. (Osseo-Fairchild)
Dylan Friend, Whitewater, Senior, Outfield, Burlington, Wis.
Taylor Kohlwey, La Crosse, Sophomore, Outfield, Holmen, Wis.
Brandon Kranz, Stevens Point, Sophomore, Secondbase, Waukesha, Wis. (West)
Kyle McHugh, Stevens Point, Junior, Designated Hitter, Polonia, Wis. (Rosholt)
Mike Mierow, Whitewater, Junior, Catcher, Brookfield, Wis. (Central)
Curtis Morgan, Whitewater, Sophomore, Righthanded Pitcher, Green Lake, Wis.
Mikole Pierce, Whitewater, Junior, Shortstop, DePere, Wis.
Scott Plaza, Whitewater, Senior, Righthanded Pitcher, Arlington Heights, Ill. (Prospect)
Cam Seidl, Stevens Point, Senior, Righthanded Pitcher, Appleton, Wis. (Fox Valley Lutheran)
Luke Watson, Stevens Point, Junior, Righthanded Pitcher, Appleton, Wis. (Xavier)
Joel Zyhowski, La Crosse, Freshman, Outfield, Menomonee Falls, Wis.
 
Honorable Mention
Travis Buxton-Verstegen, La Crosse, Sophomore, Secondbase, Appleton, Wis. (East)
Jimmy Coady, Stevens Point, Junior, Outfield, La Crosse, Wis. (Aquinas)
Zach Demmon, Platteville, Senior, Firstbase, Schaumburg, Ill. (Hoffman Estates)
Travis Elwood, Superior, Senior, Righthanded Pitcher, Ramsey, Minn. (Anoka)
JP Feyereisen, Stevens Point, Junior, Righthanded Pitcher, River Falls, Wis.
Michael Gonzalez, Whitewater, Senior, Outfield, Delavan, Wis. (Delavan-Darien)
Bobby Gregorich, Stevens Point, Junior, Outfield, Plover, Wis. (SPASH)
Sam Holden, Superior, Junior, Firstbase, Spooner, Wis.
Conner Hurst, Whitewater, Junior, Lefthanded Pitcher, Waunakee, Wis.
Tyler Kozlowski, Oshkosh, Freshman, Shortstop, Menomonee Falls, Wis. (Sussex Hamilton)
Brock Liston, Whitewater, Senior, Righthanded Pitcher, Darien, Ill. (Joliet Catholic)
Brent Mueller, Stout, Senior, Lefthanded Pitcher, Medford, Wis.
Casey Power, Whitewater, Junior, Firstbase, Ontario, Canada (Belle River)
Alex Quinones, Superior, Junior, Catcher, Waterloo, Iowa
Josh Rowles, La Crosse, Senior, Thirdbase, Sun Prairie, Wis.
Travis Sindles, Oshkosh, Senior, Lefthanded Pitcher, Twin Lake, Wis. (Wilmot Union)
Wyatt Soderquist, Superior, Senior, Centerfield, Cambridge, Minn. (Cambridge-Isanti)
Riley Spetz, Stevens Point, Junior, Shortstop, Sturgeon Bay, Wis. (Sevastopol)
Damian Wiblin, Superior, Junior, Lefthanded Pitcher, La Crosse, Wis. (Logan)
 
All-Sportsmanship Team
Jake Dostalek, Oshkosh, Senior, Outfield, Waterford, Wis. (Union)
Jordan Greenland, La Crosse, Senior, Outfield, La Farge, Wis.
Kyle Haen, Whitewater, Junior, Outfield, Madison, Wis. (Edgewood)
Suguru Homma, Superior, Junior, Infield, Tsuruoka, Yamagata, Japan (Nihon University Yamagata)
Shane Murphy, Platteville, Senior, Righthanded Pitcher, Middleton, Wis.
Ian Schiltz, Stout, Senior, Righthanded Pitcher, Franklin, Wis.
Harry Steldt, Stevens Point, Senior, Catcher, West Bend, Wis. (West)
 
UW-Stevens Point’s Stroik Earns Baseball Scholar-Athlete Award

University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point’s Brad Stroik has been chosen the recipient of the 2014 Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Max Sparger Baseball Scholar-Athlete Award.
 
A senior from Stevens Point, Wis. (SPASH), Stroik boasts a 3.95 grade point average and is double-majoring in biology and biochemistry with a minor in Spanish.  He received the Elite 89 Award at the finals of last year’s NCAA Division III Baseball Championship.  Stroik has earned Highest Honors at UW-Stevens Point and the Chancellor’s Leadership Award.
 
A team captain, he helped UW-Stevens Point earn a spot in this year’s NCAA Division III Championship by compiling a 2-0 record and striking out 26 batters in 27.1 innings pitched.  He was a member of the 2013 Pointer team that advanced to the NCAA Division III World Series and placed fourth.  The squad also won the WIAC tournament title.  In 2011, UW-Stevens Point won the WIAC regular-season and tournament crowns.
 
Stroik has gone on a medical mission to Guatemala and volunteered in the Big Brothers/Big Sisters program.
 
UW-Stout’s Cody Loertscher (Sr., Rib Lake, Wis.) and UW-Superior’s Wyatt Soderquist (Sr., Cambridge, Minn./Cambridge-Isanti) were also nominated for this year’s scholar-athlete award.
 
The WIAC Scholar-Athlete Award is named after Max Sparger, who served as commissioner of the Wisconsin State University Conference for 22 years from 1971-93.  He oversaw the transition of the conference from NAIA to full NCAA membership.  Sparger arrived at UW-Stout in 1959 and served the institution in a variety of capacities, including as an assistant football and basketball coach, head wrestling coach and head football coach.  He served as UW-Stout's athletics director from 1969-71.

In order to be nominated for the scholar-athlete award, a student-athlete must have a minimum 3.50 grade point average.  In addition, he must be in his last year of competition, or on schedule to graduate this academic year, and have competed for a minimum of two years.