Hall of Fame
Scott Gillitzer swung one of the most reliable and consistent bats in the history of Madison College baseball. A three-sport athlete from Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, helped keep MATC baseball nationally relevant during his two years with the program.
Scott was part of an incoming freshmen class hoping to keep the historic run of three-consecutive national championships alive in 1998. The infielder demonstrated early on his ability to produce, racking up 52 hits, 44 runs, 26 runs batted in, and a .371 average as Madison College went 35-15 to reach the Region 13 title game. They did, however, secure a Wisconsin Technical College Conference championship and finished ranked #4 in the final NJCAA Division III rankings. For his efforts, he was voted Team Rookie of the Year and Team Gold Glove award winner.
As a sophomore, Scott appeared to make it a personal mission to use his bat to get MATC back to the national tournament. Madison College ran up a 35-16 record in 1999, claiming an eighth consecutive WTCC crown, a Wisconsin Junior College Athletic Association state title, and a Region 13 championship with a victory over Dawson County Community College. Scott led the charge with an 11 for 19 effort at the plate that included a double, a triple, three home runs, eight runs scored, and 14 runs batted in. The team went on to place fourth at the national tournament in Batavia, New York.
Scott’s efforts in 1999 did a number on the MATC record books, setting a then single-season record for hits with 77 on his way to becoming the all-time hits leader with 129, a number that still ranks seventh a quarter century later. Similarly, his 98 career runs set a new benchmark, and still sits 13th all-time today. The name Scott Gillitzer can be found six times in the Madison College baseball record books, as he’s also sixth for career batting average at .412 thanks to a .445 average in his final season that is seventh best. Scott earned nearly every possible award in 1999, as he was named all-conference, all-state, all-region, and First Team NJCAA All-American. He also took home Team co-MVP honors, as well as Team Gold Glove and Team Batting Title.
Head coach Leo Kalinowski was quoted in the 1998-99 athletics yearbook as saying, “Scott Gillitzer was a consistent hitter his whole career for us and was an exemplary student-athlete. He was very deserving of his first team All-American status.” And when asked specifically about Scott’s performance at the Region 13 Tournament, Kalinowski said, “That is the way Gilly performed all year for us.”
A two-time academic all-conference honoree at MATC, Scott transferred to UW-Milwaukee, where he was a two-time all-conference selection, named Midwest Collegiate Conference Tournament Most Valuable Player, received ABCA/Rawlings All-Mideast Region First Team accolades, and made the Dean’s List. He was drafted in the 22nd round of the 2001 MLB Draft by the Los Angelos Dodgers and spent four years in their minor league system. After his playing days, Scott has served as an assistant coach at Winona State University, with the La Crosse Loggers of the Northwoods League, and is currently in his second stint at NCAA Division III UW-La Crosse. He and his wife, Bobbi, live in La Crosse with their daughter, Ellie.
When asked about his time at Madison College, Scott said, “I was undersized and under-recruited out of high school. Madison was the best place for me to continue to develop my game and physically mature. I enjoyed every minute of my time at Madison, and even though coach Kalinowski was tough on us, practice never seemed like work to me. I will never forget the teammates and friendships made along the way. I also won’t forget playing in the World Series as the team success was always first.”
