EMU’s John Judy and Bailey Hall were joined by five D-1 James Madison players in contributing to the Broadway Bruins RCBL title, the team’s first since 1938. The league’s Pitcher of the Year in 2019, Judy earned the win Tuesday night with Hall contributing in relief. Hall was EMU’s President’s Award recipient in 2020, the highest honor for a scholar-athlete. Coverage below is provided by the Daily News-Record’s Greg Madia.
The hope is their players will carry with them back to school all of the lessons they learned and the experiences they had this summer during Broadway’s title run in the Rockingham County Baseball League.
“Winning a championship, whether it be in the summer or spring, is huge for our guys to participate in,” James Madison baseball coach Marlin Ikenberry said. “And I do think it’s something they’ll remember for the rest of their lives.”
Eastern Mennonite University skipper Adam Posey said: “In the summer there’s always value to playing high-leverage games and being in those types of situations.”
The Bruins completed their championship series sweep of New Market with a 10-5 win in Game 4 on Tuesday night at Rebel Park.
This year, there were five Dukes on the Bruins’ roster – outfielder/pitcher Chase DeLauter, catcher Travis Reifsnider, third baseman Josh Jones and pitchers Anthony Piccolino and Liam McDonnell – while the Royals were represented by pitcher/catcher/infielder John Judy and pitcher Bailey Hall.
DeLauter, the league’s Most Valuable Player in the regular season and in the championship series, drew intentional walks in the first and second innings as New Market elected instead to test Reifsnider, who followed in the batting order.
All Reifsnider, a junior at JMU, did was double in a run and belt a grand slam as the Bruins built an early 7-0 edge in the clinching victory.
“When these kids get the chance to have 60, 70 or more at-bats under their belts, then you really can see what type of hitters they are,” Ikenberry said. “And just watching them develop is part of summer ball.”
Reifsnider hit .273 over 110 at-bats for the Bruins this summer after only batting .200 over 50 at-bats during his first two abbreviated seasons with JMU. His freshman season was shortened due to injury and this past spring was shortened for everyone in college athletics because of the coronavirus.
“But Travis is a year older now,” Ikenberry continued. “He’s bigger and stronger. And to me hitting behind Chase, that’s a lot of pressure, especially when they walk Chase all the time and [Travis] is hitting with runners on base. I think Travis did a really good job of hitting pitches he can handle, but that’s part of growing up and part of becoming an older guy.
“Travis started to play in the early part of the spring for us, sporadically, as he was coming off the hip injury and we were allowing him to get back in the lineup. He’s worked hard to get himself back and so I think playing consistently every day has really helped him.”
Reifsnider’s battery mate Tuesday night was Judy, who struck out five over six innings to pick up the win. And though Judy has already succeeded at Division III EMU, Posey said there is one trait he believes Judy improved on this summer more than anything else.
Before this past spring season was halted, Judy was 3-1 with a 1.73 ERA and was named Old Dominion Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Week twice.
“Having been around some other guys this summer I think will help him, too,” Posey said. “He was able to learn from some different people and interact with other guys. And I think him being a veteran on that [Broadway] club was awesome, too, and since he’s coming back for his fifth year with us, he was just continuing to learn how to lead.
“He’s been around a long time with those Bruins and for him to continue to move them forward and then interact with guys from other programs – because those guys from JMU were newer to Broadway – I think it helps him take another step in his leadership with us, too.”
Though it came in an abbreviated format, EMU is trying to build off of the 11-8 mark it registered this past spring. In Posey’s first season at the helm he helped the Royals register their first winning season since 2014.
JMU is trying to propel its program ahead as well after posting back-to-back winning records for the first time since 2010 and 2011. In the spring, the Dukes went 10-6 and in 2019 they were 31-26.
And at least for two more seasons, they have DeLauter.
He broke out more so than anyone else did in the RCBL and was a primary reason Broadway had the success it did. Across 30 games in the RCBL regular season and postseason, DeLauter batted .527 with 18 home runs, 45 RBIs and an on-base percentage of .681. He drew 45 walks and struck out only 10 times.
“What makes him so impressive is that he stays the same every day and he doesn’t get too high or too low,” Ikenberry said. “He just tries to find ways to help the team win. And that’s what you want in players. You want to find guys who just want to help the team win.”
Broadway had a full squad of players who wanted to win, too, Ikenberry acknowledged. He said that was important for the five Dukes who were summer Bruins to be part of and see firsthand throughout June, July and August.
“You can look to see Chase DeLauter was the player of the year in the league,” Ikenberry said. “But there’s nine players in the lineup. It’s about performing together and playing well together. So you can’t just have one really great player. You’ve got to have all great players around that one and I think about that all the time. There are guys that support other guys and complement other guys, and that’s what makes a good team.”