New Berlin's Klotz Earns All-Conference Honors for UW-Whitewater Softball

2017 May 15

Mallory Klotz, a native of New Berlin, WI, and graduate of New Berlin West Junior Senior High, was one of six members of the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater softball team to earn three of the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference's most prestigious awards and collect a total of six All-WIAC honors for their performances during the 2017 season.

Senior right fielder Haley Morelli (Mundelein, Ill./Mundelein) was named WIAC Position Player of the Year, freshman pitcher Bella Matthias (Greenfield, Wis./Greenfield) was selected Pitcher of the Year and head coach Brenda Volk was tabbed Coach of the Year for the sixth time in her 19-year career.

Morelli and Matthias were joined on the All-WIAC first team by senior first baseman Amy Ricci (Gurnee, Ill./Warren Township), junior left fielder Mallory Klotz (New Berlin, Wis./West) and freshman third baseman Meg Cohrs (Elburn, Ill./Kaneland). Sophomore centerfielder Caitlin Catino (Arlington Heights, Ill./Buffalo Grove) garnered honorable mention accolades.

The Warhawks finished the 2017 season with a 37-9 record after claiming the WIAC regular season championship with a perfect 14-0 league record and earning its fifth straight conference tournament title and the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

UW-Whitewater hosted a four-team regional last weekend for its 20th appearance in the NCAA Tournament and fifth straight bid.

Morelli is the program's ninth Position Player of the Year honoree and first since 2014. A two-time WIAC Player of the Week during the season, Morelli leads the conference in slugging percentage (.798), home runs (12) and runs batted in (48), and is second in batting average (.457), on-base percentage (.523), hits (59) and total bases (103). She is ninth in the nation in home runs.

Matthias, the program's fourth Pitcher of the Year selection and first since 2013, tossed a pair of no-hitters this season to match the program's career record in that statistical category. A four-time WIAC Pitcher of the Week, Matthias leads the conference in wins (17) and strikeouts (125), and ranks second in earned run average (1.13), opposing batting average (.195) and innings pitched (129 2/3).

Ricci has now garnered all-conference accolades in three of her four seasons, collecting first team in 2016 and honorable mention in 2014. She enters the weekend batting .414, good for fourth in the league, with 41 RBI, good for second. Ricci is also fifth in hits (55) and eighth in on-base percentage (.463).

Klotz is also a three-time All-WIAC pick, earning first team honors in 2015 and honorable mention in 2016. She leads the league in batting average (.461), on-base percentage (.527), hits (65), total bases (106) and runs scored (55), and is second in home runs (8) and slugging percentage (.752). Klotz is also 10th in NCAA Division III in runs per game.

Cohrs committed only one error playing at third base this season and hit .376, good for eighth in the conference. She also ranks third in the WIAC with 40 RBI and is also among the league's top 10 in fielding assists (81), hits (52), home runs (5) and total bases (74).

Catino, a 2016 first team selection, leads the conference with 16 doubles and leads the team and is tied for third in the WIAC with 19 stolen bases. She is second in runs scored (47), tied for fifth in total bases (74) and sixth in hits (53).

Senior pitcher Cara Smoczynski (Aurora, Ill./Rosary) is the team's representative on the WIAC All-Sportsmanship Team.