West Squad's Roch Cholowsky, of Hamilton High School in Chandler, catches a ball at second base mid-inning during the Perfect Game All-American Classic at Chase Field on Sunday, Aug. 28, 2022. Uscp 7mie98j253cy1fd11rk2 Original Joe Rondone/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK

Bruins' Star SS Nominated for Another Elite Award

Originally posted on UCLA Bruins on SI | By Tom Cavanaugh | Last updated Apr 19, 2025 9:35 AM ET

UCLA Bruins star sophomore shortstop Roch Cholowsky is having an incredible second season and was recently rewarded for his efforts.

Per the College Baseball Foundation, Cholowsky has been named to the Brooks Wallace Award Watch List. The award is given to the top shortstop in the country.

To win the award, it does not solely rely on defensive prowess. Being able to couple the offensive production with lock down defensive play is the key to success, two things that Cholowsky has excelled for the No. 10 ranked Bruins, sitting at 28-9 overall and 12-4 in Big Ten play.

Cholowsky leads the Bruins in average, hitting .362 with 50 hits, 13 doubles and 12 home runs. He leads the team in each category as he has also driven in 40 runs while scoring 51 times himself. His on base percentage (OBP) of .511 is the best in the conference.

The fact that the Chandler, Arizona native has seven more walks than strikeouts, earning 28 base on balls compared to 21 strikeouts is absurd. He is striking out just 15% of the time with 138 total at-bats. It is hard to make the case that any other player in the conference is more impactful.

Cholowsky's defense has been just as stellar as his offense this season. He currently holds a .984 fielding percentage with just three errors in 104 attempts, totaling 76 put outs. He has also been involved in 31 double plays, earning the right to be named one of the nation's top defenders.

Former Brooks Wallace award winners include Vanderbilt's Dansby Swanson ('15), NC State's Trea Turner ('14), and LSU's Alex Bregman ('13). All three are current MLB stars, something that Cholowsky hopes to achieve and is very attainable with what he has proven this year.

This is not the first award Cholowsky has been nominated for this season. In early April, he was tabbed named to the Golden Spikes Award Midseason Player of the Year watchlist, awarded to the top player in all of college baseball.

If Cholowsky can continue his strong defensive play and unbelievable offensive production, there is a very good chance that he will be a finalist for the award come mid-May. He will another chance to prove he is deserving of the award this weekend, facing off with No. 16 Oregon (26-10, 13-6).

First pitch for Saturday's contest is set for 2:05 p.m. PT, 5:05 p.m. ET at PK Park in Eugene.

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This article first appeared on UCLA Bruins on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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