A pair of James Madison softball players were recognized among the best in the country as freshman Megan Good and junior Jailyn Ford were both named All-Americans by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association, the NFCA announced on Wednesday.
This marks the first time in program history that multiple players from JMU graced the prestigious list as Good was named a Second Team All-American while Ford was tabbed a Third Team All-American.
“We are extremely proud of these two young ladies accomplishments and are humbled by their national recognition,” Head Coach Mickey Dean said.
Good proved to be one of the nation’s finest freshman this year as she was named a top-10 finalist for NFCA Freshman of the Year. Voted the Colonial Athletic Association’s Pitcher and Rookie of the Year, Good finished her first collegiate season with a 29-3 record in the circle with a 1.05 ERA. She allowed just 4.13 hits per seven innings, limited foes to a .164 batting average and led the CAA with 199 strikeouts in 193.1 innings of work. She was also one of the best hitters in the league, finishing the season batting .372, to go with 10 home runs, 43 RBIs, 29 runs and a .607 slugging percentage.
She broke four JMU single-season records in wins (29), ERA (1.05), opposing batting average (.164) and combined shutouts (4), while tying for first in sacrifice flies (5). Good began the year winning her first 26 decisions, which led the nation for wins without a loss, as she did not earn her first defeat until the CAA Championship. She tossed two no-hitters this season and notched a pair of wins over nationally-ranked opponents Minnesota (8-2) and UCF (2-1). Good racked up the weekly honors this season, being named CAA Pitcher of the Week twice and Rookie of the Week five times. On March 24, she was named the USA Softball National Player of the Week. Good was a member of the CAA Championship All-Tournament Team while also being honored on the All-Tournament Team as the UCF Spring Fling Tournament and the Easton Bama Bash.
“Megan is a gifted athlete who continues to grow by leaps and bounds by her hunger to be the best,” Dean said. “Megan shows a true desire to lead our program to new heights, by not settling and striving toward excellence in herself.”
Ford was honored as the first All-American in JMU softball history, making the second team last season, and she repeated the honor with a third team selection this year after being named CAA Player of the Year. She finished her junior season with a .383 batting average, to go with 11 home runs, 44 RBIs, 44 runs and a .704 slugging percentage. She also drew 32 walks for a .485 on-base percentage. In the circle, Ford went 16-5 with a 2.30 ERA after going over two months without a losing decision between March 8 and May 16. She limited the opposition to 4.1 hits per seven innings and a .165 batting average while providing 9.83 strikeouts per seven, accumulating to 192 total strikeouts in 136.2 innings of work.
She broke a pair of JMU single-season record for on-base percentage (.485) and strikeouts per seven innings (9.83) while also setting four career records for wins (64), shutouts (24), strikeouts (634) and complete games (56). She also tied another career record for home runs (35). Back on April 15, Ford tossed JMU’s first-ever perfect game at East Carolina while simultaneously breaking the career strikeouts record. She also produced a pair of one-hitters during the 2015 campaign. She was named CAA Pitcher of the Week three times and garnered Player of the Week once. Ford was also honored by being named to the CAA Championship All-Tournament Team while being tabbed the Most Valuable Player of the UCF Spring Fling Tournament.
“Jailyn has not only performed at a high level on the field, but has been a stellar teammate and leader,” Dean said. “She is a prime example of someone who came into our program with goals and has raised the level of play for all of her teammates by her commitment.”
The three conferences that are represented at this year’s Women’s College World Series had an impressive 39 of the 55 total selections, including 13 student-athletes on the first team. In all, the Southeastern Conference led the way with 19, while the Pac-12 Conference racked up 13 nods and the Big Ten Conference came in with seven selections. Out of those 39 student-athletes, 28 or 51 percent of the All-Americans will be stepping on the field at ASA Hall of Fame Stadium tomorrow.
Michigan and LSU each led the country with five total selections to the prestigious squads, while Alabama and UCLA garnered four each. Five programs- Florida, Oregon, Auburn, Oklahoma and Arizona- had three All-American selections. Georgia, Louisiana-Lafayette and James Madison rounded
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