JMU Picked Preseason Softball Favorite

1/26/2017 10:59:00 AM

Tim McDonnell

RICHMOND, Va. (January 26, 2017) – For the third consecutive season, James Madison was selected as the unanimous preseason favorite in Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) softball following a vote by the conference’s eight head coaches.

JMU, which returns six starters from last year’s team that finished with a CAA and program record 50-6 mark, received seven first-place votes to headline the annual preseason poll. Towson earned the remaining first-place vote and finished second in the poll with 41 points. The Tigers won 37 games in 2016 and advanced to the CAA title game for the sixth time in program history. Both College of Charleston and Hofstra received 32 points for third place, with Elon (27) and Delaware (19) following in order. UNCW is coming off its first winning season since 2006 and finished seventh with 17 points. Drexel recorded 20 wins for the first time since 2012 one season ago and rounded out the poll. Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own teams.

Madison has advanced to the NCAA Softball Championship each of the last four seasons and hosted its own Regional in Harrisonburg the last two years. Coach Mickey Dean's 2016 squad won its second conference title in three seasons and then made history by becoming the first CAA team to win a Regional, and the first to host a Super Regional. The Dukes welcomed LSU for the Supers and lost a hard-fought, three-game series after winning Game 1 in walk-off fashion.

Junior pitcher/infielder Megan Good is the two-time defending CAA Pitcher of the Year along with earning consecutive National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) All-American honors, including first-team honors last spring. The right-hander finished 2016 as a top-10 finalist for the ASA/USA Softball Player of the Year award, racking up a 32-3 record in the circle along with a 0.94 ERA. Good tallied 222 strikeouts, 32 complete games and 10 shutouts, while her win total set a new JMU record and was second in Division I. At the plate, the sophomore hit .307 and added seven home runs and 29 RBI over 56 starts.

The Dukes also return three more All-CAA award winners from last year in seniors Madyson Moran, Taylor Newton, and junior Morgan Tolle. Newton led the team with 51 RBI and Tolle tied for the team lead in hits with 59.

Towson welcomes back three players that grabbed All-CAA honors in 2016, including a pair of first-team selections in senior Holiday Cahill and sophomore Brook Miko. Together, the two accounted for 23 homers and 98 RBI in all. Junior Shelby Stracher is coming off a solid spring that saw her earn All-CAA second team recognition. The catcher finished third in the conference with a .389 average and led the league with 15 homers and 57 RBI.

College of Charleston head coach Linda Kalafatis is one victory away from 100 during her time at CofC and last season picked up her 900^th career victory as a head coach overall. The Cougars went 35-23 in 2016 and welcome back All-CAA second team performer Taylor DuPree, now a junior. The utility player is the only returning Cougar to start all 58 games for her team one season ago and broke her own program record with 27 steals in 2016. CofC led the CAA with a .974 team fielding percentage and owned the fewest errors (42), too.

Hofstra is coming off a 24-win campaign in 2016. Junior Brielle Pietrafesa picked up first-team all-conference honors, batting .307 and starting all 46 games for the Pride. Despite missing the conference championship field last spring, Hofstra has qualified for the NCAA Softball Championship in four of the past five seasons. Third-year head coach Larissa Anderson recently joined JMU's Dean on the NFCA Executive Committee as the organization’s Fourth and Fifth Vice Presidents, respectively.

CAA softball teams start the new season on Feb. 10. The 2017 CAA Softball Championship takes place for the fourth straight year at James Madison’s Veterans Memorial Park and is scheduled for May 9-12.

2017 CAA Softball Coaches’ Predicted Order of Finish (First-Place Votes in Parenthesis)
1.	James Madison – 49 (7)
2.	Towson – 41 (1)
3.	College of Charleston – 32
	Hofstra – 32
5.	Elon – 27
6.	Delaware – 19
7.	UNCW – 17
8.	Drexel – 7