The James Madison baseball team had seven student-athletes earn All-CAA honors, as the league announced those awards on Tuesday.
Travis Reifsnider and Ryan Dooley were selected to the All-CAA First Team, with Dooley also picking up All-Rookie honors. The quartet of Chase DeLauter, Liam McDonnell, Kyle Novak and Trevon Dabney were named to the Second Team, while Fenwick Trimble joined Dooley on the All-Rookie Team.
The seven Dukes earning end-of-season league honors are the most for JMU since 2010, when nine Dukes were honored. JMU finished the season at 27-26 and 12-11 in the CAA.
Reifsnider was tabbed to the First Team as a utility player, spending time in the outfield, at catcher and as the designated hitter. The redshirt junior started 40 of the 43 games he played in and hit .303 while leading the league in slugging percentage (.632) and tying for the league lead in home runs (13). His 13 long balls are the most from a JMU hitter since Jake Lowery tied the single-season program record in 2011 with 24.
Dooley earned First Team and All-Rookie honors as a designated hitter, finding a spot in the lineup with an ability to hit for power and to get on base. The freshman slashed .305/.419/.526 across 38 games that he appeared in, with 24 starts. He hit three of his four home runs this season in league play, as well as over half of his hits (16-out-of-29) coming against conference opponents.
A consensus Preseason All-American, Chase DeLauter earned a Second Team selection as an outfielder. He started and played in 24 games with eight home runs and 35 RBI’s, while scoring 31 runs and drawing 28 walks to 21 strikeouts. For a single season in program history, he placed first in on-base percentage (.536), second in slugging percentage (.828) and third in batting average (.437). He was named to D1Baseball’s Midseason All-America First Team and saw his named added to the USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award Midseason Watch List.
McDonnell found himself in the weekend rotation on his way to earning a Second Team selection as a starting pitcher. In 16 appearances with 13 starts, he recorded an ERA of 2.83 with a 6-1 record, including a perfect 3-0 record in conference games. Overall, he tossed 63.2 innings with 52 strikeouts, and held opposing hitters to a .227 batting average. He began the season by winning his first six decisions, the first time a JMU pitcher accomplished the feat since Kevin Munson in 2010.
Tabbed All-Conference for a second time in his career, Novak was named to the Second Team as an infielder. The Oakton, Va. native led the league in RBI’s, knocking in 49 which is the most from a Duke since Chad Carroll knocked in 55 runs in 2013. Novak hit .292, with five home runs, 14 doubles and 38 runs scored. During the first half of the season, he strung together 35 consecutive games that he was able to reach base safely. He led the team with seven three-hit games, 16 multi-RBI games and 19 multi-hit games.
As an infielder, Dabney earned Second Team honors by hitting .303 overall and a blistering .354 in conference play. The redshirt junior led the league in on-base percentage (.459) and runs scored (53), while drawing 53 free bases with 30 walks and a league-high 23 hit-by-pitches. Dabney also finished fifth in the league in slugging percentage at .543, as he hit two triples, eight home runs and 14 doubles. His 23 hit-by-pitches put him third in a single season at JMU, and he is four away from tying the career record of 55.
Rounding out the end-of-season league honors is Trimble, who was selected as an outfielder to the All-Rookie Team. The Virginia Beach, Va. native started in all but one game this season, hitting .276 with seven home runs, 12 doubles, 31 runs scored and 39 RBI’s as he finished second on the team in doubles and RBI’s. He began his career by reaching base safely in his first 16 games, ultimately getting on base in 48 of the 52 games he played in. He strung together a 24-game streak late in the season for his longest streak of the year.
