JMU Receives Four Top Softball All-Conference Honors; Drexel’s Linda Rush Named Player of the Year
RICHMOND, Va. (May 11, 2021) – Drexel's Linda Rush was named the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Player of the Year while four Dukes of James Madison collected top all-conference honors as voted by the league's coaches.
James Madison's Odicci Alexander was selected as the CAA Pitcher of the Year while her teammates Madison Naujokas earned CAA Defensive Player of the Year and Alissa Humphrey collected CAA Rookie of the Year accolades. The Dukes' leader Loren LaPorte was tabbed as the CAA Coach of the Year.
Rush caps off a prestigious career becoming the first Drexel student-athlete to be named CAA Player of the Year. The shortstop currently ranks first in CAA history in career batting average (.424), career home runs (67), career RBIs (243), and career runs scored (208) while she is second in career hits (265). Rush also owns the single-season league record for RBIs (80) and runs scored (71) while she is also on pace to break the single-season record batting average this spring. This season Rush leads the CAA with a .482 batting average while also ranking first in on-base percentage (.592), slugging percentage (.964), hits (53), home runs (14), and runs scored (49). The leader of the Drexel offense has led Drexel to a 28-10 regular season mark the best overall winning percentage (.737) in program history en route to a first-place finish in the CAA North Division standings.
Alexander receives CAA postseason accolades for the fourth consecutive season after winning CAA Rookie of the Year in 2017 before earning CAA Player of the Year honor back-to-back in 2018 and 2019. The red-shirt senior adds CAA Pitcher of the Year accolades to her collection this season. Alexander anchors to the top pitching staff in the conference as she owns the lowest ERA in the CAA this season. In 67.0 innings of work this spring, Alexander has posted a 0.73 ERA while striking out 110 batters. She has an unblemished 10-0 record in 11 appearances while she ranks first in the conference in strikeout-to-walk ratio (6.88), strikeouts per seven innings (11.5) and opponent batting average (.124).
Naujokas becomes the fourth Duke to earn CAA Defensive Player of the Year since the award's introduction after the 2014 season. The second baseman has a fielding percentage of .974 on the season and has committed just two errors in 77 chances in the field. Naujokas has started all 32 games for the Dukes recording 43 putouts and 32 assists. At the plate, Naujokas is hitting .376 with 25 RBIs and 31 runs this spring.
Humphrey is the conference-leading eighth James Madison student-athlete to earn CAA Rookie of the Year honors. Humphrey has been dominant in the circle in her first season with the Dukes. Humphry (12-0) has posted a 1.56 earned run average in 81.0 innings of work while striking out a league-high 126 batters. The freshman has recorded double-digit strikeouts in six games this season highlighted by 15 in a complete-game shutout of Longwood. She also threw a 7.0 inning no-hitter on March 6 against Radford in which she fanned 10.
LaPorte earns her third consecutive CAA Coach of the Year honors and becomes the seventh straight James Madison coach to collect the league honors. LaPorte has led the Dukes to a 32-1 record and a 21-game winning streak which is the longest active winning streak in the NCAA. The Dukes lead the CAA in team pitching (1.51 ERA) and team fielding (.974). They also score the most runs per game (7.41) and have hit the most home runs (54) in the conference this season while they rank third in team batting average (.329). LaPorte has the Dukes entering the CAA Tournament as the top overall seed and poised to challenge for their fourth CAA title over the last five years.
James Madison led all teams with five First Team All-CAA selections. Outfielder Kate Gordon (,387 BA, 40 RBI) and third baseman Lynsey Meeks (.310 BA, 24 RBI) joined Alexander, Humphrey and Naujokas on the team. Drexel had three first-team all-conference honorees as first baseman Kristi DiMeo (.444 BA, 52 RBI) and pitcher Brooklyn Daly (9-1, 2.52 ERA) accompany Rush on the team. Elon, Hofstra and UNCW all had one first-team selection. Elon's Ally Repko (.333 BA, 29 RBI) was chosen to the league's designated player, utility non-pitcher slot. Hofstra's outfielder Jaycee Ruberti (.381 BA, 34 RBI) and catcher Jada Santiago (.390 BA, 36 RBI) of UNCW rounded out the members of the All-CAA First Team.
2021 CAA Softball First Team
| Player |
School |
Position |
Class |
Hometown |
| Jada Santiago |
UNCW |
C |
Jr. |
Pine Level, N.C. |
| Kristi DiMeo |
Drexel |
1B |
Sr. |
Turnersville, N.J. |
| Madison Naujokas |
James Madison |
2B |
R-Sr. |
Chicago, Ill. |
| Lynsey Meeks |
James Madison |
3B |
R-Jr. |
Westerville, Ohio |
| Linda Rush |
Drexel |
SS |
Gr. |
Pittsburgh, Pa. |
| Hanna Garber |
Delaware |
OF |
Jr. |
Lancaster, Pa. |
| Kate Gordon |
James Madison |
OF |
R-Sr. |
Shenandoah, Va. |
| Jaycee Ruberti |
Hofstra |
OF |
Jr. |
Virginia Beach, Va. |
| Ally Repko |
Elon |
DP / UTIL / NP |
Sr. |
Broadway, Va. |
| Odicci Alexander |
James Madison |
UTIL / P |
R-Sr. |
Boydton, Va. |
| Brooklyn Daly |
Drexel |
P |
Sr. |
Plainfield, Ill. |
| Alissa Humphrey |
James Madison |
P |
Fr. |
Micanopy, Fla. |
2021 CAA Softball Second Team
| Player |
School |
Position |
Class |
Hometown |
| Devyn Losco |
Hofstra |
C |
Sr. |
Easton, Pa. |
| Janel Gamache |
UNCW |
1B |
Jr. |
Exeter, R.I. |
| Brooke Glanden |
Delaware |
1B |
Jr. |
Felton, Del. |
| Brittney Mendoza |
Delaware |
2B |
Jr. |
Chula Vista, Calif. |
| Chloe Poulich |
Towson |
3B |
Jr. |
Greensburg, Pa. |
| Sara Jubas |
James Madison |
SS |
R-Sr. |
McDonald, Pa. |
| Megan Grant |
Elon |
OF |
So. |
Vinton, Va. |
| Rebecca Murray |
Elon |
OF |
Jr. |
Indian Trail, N.C. |
| Logan Newton |
James Madison |
OF |
R-Jr. |
Lakewood Ranch, Fla. |
| Reilly Jo Swanson |
Drexel |
OF |
Sr. |
Mokena, Ill. |
| Hallie Hall |
James Madison |
DP / UTIL / NP |
R-So. |
Bolingbrook, Ill. |
| Logan Bjorson |
UNCW |
UTIL / P |
Jr. |
Indian Trail, N.C. |
| Alexa Nemeth |
Elon |
P |
Gr. |
Mooresville, N.C. |
| Emily Winburn |
Delaware |
P |
So. |
Fort Lauderdale, Fla. |
CAA Player of the Year: Linda Rush, Drexel
CAA Pitcher of the Year: Odicci Alexander, James Madison
CAA Defensive Player of the Year: Madison Naujokas, James Madison
CAA Rookie of the Year: Alissa Humphrey, James Madison
CAA Coach of the Year: Loren LaPorte, James Madison
2021 CAA All-Rookie Team
| Player |
School |
Position |
Class |
Hometown |
| Julz Garber |
Delaware |
OF |
Fr. |
Lancaster, Pa. |
| Hallie Hall |
James Madison |
DP / UTIL /NP |
R-So. |
Bolingbrook, Ill. |
| Alissa Humphrey |
James Madison |
P |
Fr. |
Micanopy, Fla. |
| Mackenzie Lake |
Towson |
SS |
Fr. |
Pittsburgh, Pa. |
| Chelsea Manto |
Hofstra |
2B |
So. |
Robbinsville, N.J. |
| Lexi Moore |
Delaware |
3B |
Fr. |
Dover, Del. |
| Emily Phillips |
James Madison |
C |
R-Fr. |
Chesapeake, Va. |
| Gabi Schaal |
Elon |
3B |
Fr. |
Lakeland, Fla. |
| Tayler Vitola |
UNCW |
SS |
Fr. |
Middletown, Del. |
| Emily Winburn |
Delaware |
P |
So. |
Fort Lauderdale, Fla. |