UCLA Shortstop Adds Another Award to Historic Season

UCLA Bruins star shortstop Roch Cholowsky has been named the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA)/Rawlings Division-I Player of the Year, adding to one of the best baseball seasons in UCLA history.

Cholowsky led the Bruins to a 48-win season and its first appearance in the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska since winning the national championship in 2013.

The standout shortstop had a stellar sophomore season and this latest award adds to Cholowsky being named Big Ten Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year, the Brooks Wallace Award, District 9 Player of the Year, Perfect Game USA Player of the Year, ABCA First Team All-American honors, Baseball America First Team All-American honors, NCBWA Second Team All-American honors, finalist for the Dick Howser Trophy and semifinalist for the Golden Spikes Award, all in his sophomore season.

A truly remarkable season out of Cholowsky, who is now projected to be the No. 1 prospect ahead of the 2026 MLB Draft.

Cholowsky led all Division-I baseball players with a 6.49 WAR and slashed .353/.480/.710 for 23 home runs and 74 RBIs. Defensively, he led the nation with 20.15 defensive runs saved and a 1.51 defensive WAR. He only had seven errors all season, which included a two-month stretch from Feb. 28 - April 29 without committing one.

Despite enduring a weird postseason where he didn't hit a single extra base hit, Cholowsky is at the core of what is a young UCLA baseball team that was, quite frankly, ahead of schedule during it's College World Series run which ended on Tuesday after a loss to the No. 3 seeded Arkansas Razorbacks.

UCLA started the postseason 6-0, sweeping through the regional rounds and defeating Murray State in its Omaha opener. The Bruins then had to play LSU over the span of two days after the game was suspended after three innings due to inclement weather and moved to the next morning, which was also the same day as their elimination game against Arkansas, which they lost 7-3.

Finishing last season with 19 wins, the Bruins' 29-win leap this season was an unprecedented improvement from a team riddled with sophomore and freshman talent.

With nearly all of John Savage's players returning next season and the postseason scars they endured this year, Westwood is primed to have a breakout year in 2026.