Hopes are high for Adam Cootway and the UW-Whitewater baseball team. Coming off a junior year where he missed a good part of the season due to injury, Cootway is looking forward to his senior year.
“It’s nice being able to go through this first weekend not being injured,” Cootway said. “We want to get back to where we were and this time win it all.”
Cootway played the first two games of the season last year against Trinity University (Texas) before missing the next month and a half, returning against UW-La Crosse where he homered.
“I’m excited to have him healthy and I’m excited for him because last year I’m sure he would have had a really special year,” head coach John Vodenlich said.
Even with the injury plaguing most of his 2024 season, Cootway still managed to positively contribute and put up respectable numbers, finishing with a .352 batting average, five home runs and 19 runs batted in.
This season, the Warhawks are coming off of a runner-up finish in which they dominated their way to the NCAA Division III World Series before falling to Misericordia University. Many would consider this season to be a “revenge tour” or a championship-or-bust season for Whitewater, but that isn’t their mentality going into the season.
“When you are part of Whitewater, things are expected,” Cootway said. “You want to make deep runs into the playoffs, and you have a bad taste in your mouth when you don’t finish with that trophy in your hands. Just because you got there last year doesn’t mean you’re gonna get there this year, so always trying to improve and take a step forward, and it starts with today.”
According to D3baseball.com and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association, Whitewater is ranked No. 1 in the country, followed by Salve Regina, Endicott, reigning champions Misericordia and Denison rounding out the top five. On a team packed with great baseball players, Cootway is looking to return to his 2023 form.
“For me, personally, I just want to somehow transfer what I did two years ago and improve,” Cootway said. “And then to see what other aspects I can bring to the outfield.”
In his first season with the Warhawks, Cootway put on a show, posting an incredible .477 batting average along with 15 home runs and 67 RBIs. He also got things done on the defensive side with a .880 fielding percentage. These statistics led to Cootway taking home the honors of the WIAC Position Player of the Year and D3 2023 first-team All-American honors.
“He’s a special player, no doubt,” Vodenlich said. “He continues to get better because of his work ethic.”
Cootway has already begun his return to form in UW-Whitewater’s first three spring games. Against Asbury University (Kentucky), he put up an impressive .444 batting average, going 4-9 in his first nine at-bats of the season.
“Throughout this early part of the year, you gotta continue to improve and to build off what we did last year and then get better,” Cootway said.
The Warhawks had a dominant performance against Asbury, winning each of their three games 26-4, 12-2 and 6-3. Whitewater will be back in action March 11, facing off against Grinnell College as a part of their six-game spring trip in Pensacola, Florida.
