History And Honors: R-MC Baseball to #1; Rhoads Named Rookie Of The Year

BASEBALL: After winning the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) regular season championship Saturday for the first time in 31 years, the Yellow Jackets reached the number one ranking in Division III nationally Tuesday on the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA)/Collegiate Baseball Top 30 Poll. The Yellow Jackets rank third this week on the D3Baseball.com survey.

Randolph-Macon begins play in the newly-formatted 2018 ODAC Baseball Championship this weekend, hosting eighth-seeded Bridgewater in a best two-of-three series starting Friday afternoon at Hugh Stephens Field at Estes Park at 3:30pm. First, the Yellow Jackets finish regular season play with a Top 10 showdown out of conference against #6 Christopher Newport Tuesday at 3:30pm.

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SOFTBALL: Freshman Madie Rhoads was named 2018 ODAC Rookie of The Year Tuesday as six Randolph-Macon players earned All-ODAC Team honors.

Junior pitcher Candace Whittemore (Patrick Henry) and sophomore catcher Sami Davidson were named First Team All-ODAC, while Rhoads and senior first baseman Harley Jones earned Second Team accolades. Junior shortstop Savannah Wood and sophomore center fielder Shelby Hill (Mechanicsville) were named to the All-ODAC Third Team.

Rhoads' ERA of 0.79 ranks in the top five nationally, going 12-0 during the Yellow Jackets' historic 37-3 regular season. Davidson hit .421 in conference play, .409 overall with 32 RBI's, while Whittemore had an ERA of 0.98 with a 15-3 record over 128.2 innings, striking out 136 batters. Whittemore is a member of the 2018 Schutt Sports/NFCA Division National Player of The Year Top 25 list.