MacGregor, Thach And Knowles Receive Top Honors On 2024 All-CAA Baseball Team
Rob Washburn
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, 12
th in batting average, 16
th in runs and 18
th 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 20
th 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 19
th in Division I in total strikeouts and 21
st 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.