CA
Cal Aldridge
  • special education
  • Class of 2020
  • Crystal Lake, IL

UW-Whitewater's Aldridge Named All-Region by ABCA

2016 May 25

Cal Aldridge, a native of Crystal Lake, IL, and member of the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater baseball team, was one of four Warhawks selected American Baseball Coaches Association/Rawlings All-Midwest Region for his performance during the 2016 season.

Senior pitcher Curtis Morgan (Green Lake, Wis./Green Lake) and sophomore pitcher Lake Bachar (Wheaton, Ill./North) were named to the first team, while junior second baseman Steve Chamberlain (Rockford, Ill./Guilford) and freshman third baseman Cal Aldridge (Crystal Lake, Ill./Prairie Ridge) were tabbed second team.

All four have helped the Warhawks reach the NCAA Championship round for the sixth time since 2004 and the eighth time in program history. UW-Whitewater claimed an at-large bid before winning the Sauget, Illinois Regional with a 5-1 mark, including three straight victories in elimination games.

Morgan and Bachar serve as a formidable 1-2 punch at the top of the Warhawks' rotation. The right-handers each garnered second team All-Midwest Region accolades from D3baseball.com and were named to the All-Tournament Team at last week's regional.

Morgan, who was named to the second team in both 2014 and 2015 by the ABCA, leads the team and ranks second in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference with a 1.82 earned run average. In 14 appearances (all starts, good for fifth in the nation), he owns a 7-2 record in 79 1/3 innings. The first team All-WIAC selection has a pair of shutouts and 63 strikeouts entering play this week.

Bachar, a third team All-Region honoree in 2015, begins play at the national championship round with an 8-5 record, a 2.66 ERA and a league-best 94 strikeouts in 84 2/3 innings pitched. The honorable mention All-WIAC pick ranks second in the conference in opponents' batting average (.225).

Aldridge, the Most Valuable Player at the Sauget Regional, leads the team with a .402 batting average and ranks among the top 30 in the nation in hits (72, 19th), total bases (114, 27th) and home runs (10, 28th). He also leads the team with 43 runs batted in and is tied for the team lead with 10 doubles.

Chamberlain, an honorable mention All-WIAC selection, ranks among the top 10 in the league in batting average (.364), hits (59) and stolen bases (12). He leads the team and ranks 22nd nationally with six sacrifice flies on the year. Chamberlain was a second team ABCA All-Region honoree last season.

No. 14 UW-Whitewater begins NCAA Championship play this Friday against 11th-ranked La Roche (Pa.) at approximately 7:45 p.m. at Fox Cities Stadium.

Aldridge is majoring in physical education at UW-Whitewater.