Taylor Kohlwey – Chris Schwarz – Caleb Boushley: Photo Courtesy of Jim Lund – UW La Crosse athletics.
UW-La Crosse’s Taylor Kohlwey was named the WIAC’s Position Player of the Year. Teammate Caleb Boushley was named the Pitcher of the Year and Eagles head coach Chris Schwarz was named the league’s Coach of the Year on Tuesday.
It’s the second Position Player of the Year honor for Kohlwey, who also won it back in 2014. He becomes the third player in league history to win the award twice, joining UW-Oshkosh’s Jeremy Jirschele (2004 & 2005) and UW-Whitewater’s Marty Herum (2012 & 2013).
Kohlwey leads all NCAA Division 3 hitters with a .494 batting average. He carries a 45-game hitting streak into today’s NCAA Division 3 Midwest Regional opener against Beloit College in La Crosse.
Boushley is the third Eagle to claim the pitching award, joining Joe Ohm (1997) and Andy Elskamp (2000). he leads the conference with a 1.83 ERA, eight wins, 73.2 innings pitched and four complete games. Boushley has recorded at least seven strikeouts in seven of his 10 starting assignments. He allowed two earned runs or fewer in his first eight appearances.
Schwarz received the coaching honor for the third time in his career (2006, 2012) after leading the Eagles to the 14th WIAC regular-season championship and third tournament title in program history.
The Eagles take a 34-8 record into the NCAA Regionals today.