MacGregor, Thach And Knowles Receive Top Honors On 2024 All-CAA Baseball Team

MacGregor, Thach And Knowles Receive Top Honors On 2024 All-CAA Baseball Team

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RICHMOND, Va. (May 21, 2024) – A pair of power-hitting first basemen – Northeastern grad student Tyler MacGregor and UNCW sophomore Tanner Thach – shared 2024 CAA Baseball Player of the Year accolades, while William & Mary junior right-hander Nate Knowles was chosen as the CAA Pitcher of the Year as the conference announced its post-season award winners on Tuesday.
 
Other top honors went to Stony Brook freshman designated hitter/pitcher Erik Paulsen as CAA Rookie of the Year, Northeastern senior second baseman Luke Beckstein as CAA Defensive Player of the Year and Charleston’s Chad Holbrook as CAA Coach of the Year.


 
MacGregor batted a CAA-best .405 and led the league with 92 hits, 29 doubles, 70 runs scored and 80 RBI’s. He added 19 homers to post a conference-high .802 slugging percentage. MacGregor leads the nation in doubles, and ranks fourth nationally in RBI’s, 12th in batting average, 16th in runs and 18th in slugging.
 
Thach broke the CAA and UNCW records by belting 26 home runs this season, a total that ranks seventh nationally. Half of those long balls came in conference play. He batted .321, led the Seahawks and ranked 20th nationally with 70 RBI’s and tied for the team lead with 54 runs scored.
 
Knowles turned in an excellent season on the mound, going 7-3 with a CAA-best 2.22 ERA. He topped the conference with 103 strikeouts in just 73.0 innings and held opponents to a .178 batting average, which was also the best in the league. His ERA ranks sixth nationally, he ranks 19th in Division I in total strikeouts and 21st in strikeouts per nine innings (12.7).
 
Paulsen was a key contributor for Stony Brook at the plate and on the mound. As the Seawolves’ designated hitter, he batted .299 with a team-best 16 doubles, four homers and 24 RBI’s. Paulsen was also the team’s closer, posting a 2-1 record with a team-leading six saves and a 3.21 ERA.
 
Beckstein is Northeastern’s second straight CAA Defensive Player of the Year honoree. The senior second baseman had a sensational .995 fielding percentage, committing only one error in 208 chances while helping turn 22 double plays. He also batted .318 from the leadoff spot for the Huskies with 66 runs scored.
 
Holbrook received CAA Coach of the Year accolades for the second time in three seasons. He guided Charleston to a 39-12 overall record, which is the most regular season victories for the program since 2015. The Cougars claimed their second CAA regular-season title in three years with a 21-5 mark. Charleston went 25-3 over its final 28 games and won 20 of its final 23 conference contests.
 
Charleston had five players selected to the All-CAA first team as infielders Kevin Madden and Cole Mathis were joined by outfielder Avery Neaves, designated hitter Cole Singsank and closer Davis Aiken. UNCW also had five first-team honorees with Thach joined by infielder Jac Croom, outfielder Trevor Marsh, starting pitcher RJ Sales and reliever Luke Craig.
 
Outfielder Alex Lane joined MacGregor from Northeastern on the first team while Campbell had outfielder Lawson Harrill and catcher/pitcher Grant Knipp make the squad. Rounding out the team were North Carolina A&T catcher Canyon Brown, Hofstra starting pitcher Carlos Martinez and W&M’s Knowles.
 
The 2024 CAA Baseball Championship gets underway on Wednesday from UNCW’s Brooks Field in Wilmington, N.C.  Six teams will battle for the league title and an automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament in the double-elimination event.
 
2024 ALL-CAA BASEBALL TEAM
(selected by CAA Head Baseball Coaches)

FIRST TEAM

Player, School                                     Pos.      Cl.       Hometown
Canyon Brown, N.C. A&T                     C           Jr.        Ormond Beach, Fla.
Jac Croom, UNCW                               IF          Sr.       Wilmington, N.C.
Tyler MacGregor, Northeastern            IF          Gr.      Peabody, Mass.
Kevin Madden, Charleston                   IF          Gr.      Baltimore, Md.
Cole Mathis, Charleston                       IF          Jr.        Cataula, Ga.
Tanner Thach, UNCW                          IF          So.      Belvidere, N.C.
Lawson Harrill, Campbell                     OF        Sr.       Shelby, N.C.
Alex Lane, Northeastern                      OF        Gr.      Andover, Mass.
Trevor Marsh, UNCW                          OF        Sr.       Asheboro, N.C.
Avery Neaves, Charleston                   OF        Gr.      Reston, Va.
Grant Knipp, Campbell                        UT        Jr.        Louisville, Ky.
Cole Singsank, Charleston                  DH        Gr.      Durham, N.C.
Nate Knowles, William & Mary            SP         Jr.        Arlington, Va.
Carlos Martinez, Hofstra                     SP         So.      College Point, N.Y.
RJ Sales, UNCW                                SP         Jr.        Pinehurst, N.C.
Davis Aiken, Charleston                     RP         Jr.        Simpsonville, S.C.
Luke Craig, UNCW                             RP         Sr.       Sanford, N.C.
 
2024 CAA CO-PLAYERS OF THE YEAR: Tyler MacGregor, 1B, Northeastern and Tanner Thach, 1B, UNCW 
2024 CAA PITCHER OF THE YEAR: Nate Knowles, RHP, William & Mary
2024 CAA DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR:  Luke Beckstein, 2B, Northeastern
2024 CAA ROOKIE OF THE YEAR:  Erik Paulsen, DH/P, Stony Brook
2024 CAA COACH OF THE YEAR:  Chad Holbrook, Charleston
 
SECOND TEAM

Player, School                                    Pos.      Cl.       Hometown
Gregory Bozzo, Northeastern              C           Sr.       Basking Ridge, N.J.
Luke Beckstein, Northeastern             IF          Sr.       Tyngsborough, Mass.
Jack Goodman, Northeastern             IF          So.      Medfield, Mass.
Steve Harrington, Hofstra                   IF          Sr.       Clark, N.J.
Tatsunori Negishi, N.C. A&T               IF          Gr.      Tokyo, Japan
Dylan Palmer, Hofstra                         IF          So.      West Windsor, N.J.
Joe Delossantos, William & Mary       OF        Sr.       Creedmoor, N.C.
Aaron Graeber, Delaware                   OF        Jr.        West Deptford, N.J.
Kenny Mallory, Jr., Elon                      OF        Jr.        Lawrenceville, Ga.
Ben Parker, William & Mary                OF        Gr.      Los Altos, Calif.
Evan Fox, Stony Brook                       UT        Sr.       Ballston Spa, N.Y.
Bryce Greenly, Delaware                    DH        Sr.       Milford, Del.
Jake Brink, Charleston                       SP         So.      Whitestone, N.Y.
Aidan Hunter, Charleston                   SP         Jr.        Hanahan, S.C.
Zane Taylor, UNCW                            SP         Jr.        Franklinton, N.C.
Carter Lovasz, William & Mary           RP         Jr.        Midlothian, Va.                                              
Mike McKenna, Hofstra                      RP         Gr.      Farmingdale, N.Y.
 

HONORABLE MENTION: Tyler Leach, C, Delaware; Brett Lesher, IF, Delaware; Joey Loynd, IF, Delaware; Eric Ludman, IF, Delaware; Braeden O’Shaughnessy, IF, Campbell; Jordan Peyton, IF, Towson; Will Baumhofer, OF, Charleston; Elijah Dickerson, OF, Towson; Charlie Granatell, OF, Elon; Ryan Sprock, IF/P, Elon; Phil Stahl, DH, Monmouth; Connor Campbell, SP, Charleston; Eddie Smink, SP, Stony Brook; Jack Beauchesne, RP, Northeastern; Erik Paulsen, DH/RP, Stony Brook

CAA ALL-ROOKIE TEAM

Player, School                                     Pos.      Cl.       Hometown
Peyton Bonds, Campbell                      OF        Fr.       Somerset, N.J.
Nate Brittain, Campbell                        SP         Fr.       Mount Holly, N.C.
Anthony Greco, William & Mary           1B/OF  Fr.       Buffalo, N.Y.
Wyatt Hunt, Monmouth                         IF          Fr.       Spring Lake, N.J.
Charlie Meglio, Campbell                     IF          Fr.       Jackson, N.J.
Erik Paulsen, Stony Brook                    DH/P    Fr.       Massapequa, N.Y.
Nicholas Rizzo, Stony Brook                P           Fr.       East Islip, N.Y.
Taye Robinson, Towson                       IF          Fr.       Gaithersburg, Md.
Andrew Schuldt, Campbell                  C           Fr.       Cornelius, N.C.
Hayden Thomas, Charleston               P           Fr.       Lexington, S.C.