All-American Scolan leads the Warhawks to the Division III World Series — again
For a second straight season, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater senior outfielder Matt Scolan (Downers Grove South High School) led the Warhawks into the NCAA Division III World Series.
Scolan is a two-time D3Baseball.com and American Baseball Coaches Association first-team All-American. He came into Friday’s tournament opener against Trinity (Texas) hitting .389 with 17 home runs, 57 RBI, and 17 stolen bases.
Also two-time Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference position player of the year, Scolan holds Warhawks career records for at-bats, runs, hits, RBI, bases on balls, and home runs, with 52.
Graduating with a 3.81 grade-point average in finance, Scolan received the 2025 WIAC Baseball Max Sparger Scholar-Athlete Award for athletics, academics and service. In 2024, he was named Division III Baseball Academic All-America of the Year.
Wisconsin-Whitewater teammate Aaron Holland (Wheaton North) earned All-American notice as well. The sophomore catcher entered championship play hitting .404 with 14 home runs and 51 RBI. A battery mate, all-WIAC pitcher Logan Eisenbarth (Barrington), is 8-0 mainly in relief, with a 2.47 ERA, 3 saves, and 52 strikeouts in 51 innings pitched.
No. 3 seed Whitewater (45-6), last season’s Division III runner-up, opened championship play with a 7-3 win over Trinity. Junior third baseman Danny Hopper (Palatine) got the Warhawks going with a 2-run single. The World Series runs through Thursday.
On Sunday they faced No. 2 seed Denison (40-5), which brings sophomore right-handed pitcher Peter Lemke (St. Francis). A first-team pick in the North Coast Athletic Conference, the 6-footer entered 9-0 with a 1.92 ERA with a complete-game shutout. Hitters are averaging only .191 against Lemke.
Spotless
Cy Kerber (Larkin), an assistant baseball coach with LSU Shreveport, helped the Pilots win the NAIA World Series on Friday with a perfect record of 59-0. According to Shreveport officials, it’s the first time a college team went through a season unbeaten and swept through its national tournament. It’s also college baseball’s longest win streak, program officials said.
Chippewa smarties
Local Central Michigan University athletes swept the Mid-American Conference Medal of Excellence. A male and female student-athlete at the 12 MAC schools earn these awards for athletics, academics and leadership.
Last fall, volleyball player Allie Korba (Hersey) was the first Chippewa to earn MAC setter of the year. A four-time dean’s list student, she graduated with a 3.86 GPA in political science and was Student-Athlete Advisory Committee president. (Marquette University announced Korba will transfer there for her final year of eligibility.)
At 106-51, wrestler Alex Cramer (Grayslake Central) is among 28 Chippewas with at least 100 victories. The two-time MAC champion and four-time NCAA qualifier earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in computer science, graduating with a 3.84 GPA.
What a racquet
Playing No. 1 singles and doubles for the University of Dubuque, junior tennis player Gavin Murrie (Lakes) earned American Rivers Conference all-conference honors. Murrie went 15-6 in singles and 12-9 in doubles, and earned College Sports Communicators Academic All-District — as did his teammate at both Lakes and Dubuque, senior Ryan Kiddle.
The Belmont Belter
Belmont junior shortstop Nicole Hughes (Grayslake North) singled in the Bruins’ first run in their first NCAA Tournament win in program history, a 2-1 victory over Jackson State on May 17. Hughes, who finished with a .349 batting average, also cracked a 3-run home run to clinch Belmont’s 6-2 win over Southern Illinois in the Missouri Valley Conference Championship. She made the MVC all-tournament team and earned second-team all-MVC this year after a first-team nod in 2024.
Lots of pop
Rockford University’s two-time baseball MVP, senior outfielder Joseph Stagowski (Schaumburg), earned Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference position player of the year. A third-team ABCA All-America pick, Stagowski hit .361 with 56 runs scored, 14 home runs, 49 RBI, and a team-record 22 doubles and .847 slugging percentage. At Rockford’s annual “Reggies” awards, Stagowski was named co-male athlete of the year.
Thanks!
This concludes College Achievers for the 2025-26 school year. Anyone with future candidates, email doberhelman@dailyherald.com. Thank you for reading.