Scanning the record books, there is nothing special about the 1993 JMU baseball team – the Dukes were 24-24-1 overall and 3-7-1 in what was then the competitive Colonial Athletic Association.
“We just didn’t play up to par,” said Rob Mummau, a senior captain on that squad who was all-CAA and a future Triple-A infielder.
But that 1993 squad had something unmatched in school history and even uncommon for big-time programs – four future Major League pitchers.
They were:
- fifth-year senior and New Jersey native Rich Croushore, who signed a pro contract prior to the 1993 MLB Draft after posting an ERA of 5.84 that spring. He pitched in 111 games with the Louis Cardinals, Colorado Rockies and Boston Red Sox from 1998-2000.
- sophomore Mike Venafro, who came to JMU as a walk-on outfielder from Paul VI High in Northern Virginia. He pitched in 307 games in the Majors as a reliever for the Texas Rangers, Oakland A’s, Tampa Bay, Los Angeles Dodgers and Colorado Rockies from 1999-2006.
- sophomore Scott Forster, from suburban Philadelphia, and like Venafro, a lefty. He appeared in 42 games out of the bullpen for the Montreal Expos in 2000.
- freshman Brian McNichol, who was born in Fairfax and went to Gar-field High in Woodbridge. The lefty appeared in four games, with two starts, for the Chicago Cubs in 1999.
“We all competed with each other,” McNichol, in a recent phone interview from his home in Arizona, said of the JMU pitching staff.
McNichol was recently named pitching coach of AZ Compass Prep in Arizona.
“It was a great group of guys,” said Mummau, a long-time scout for the Seattle Mariners. “We got along so well with each other. The camaraderie on the team was awesome. Just good down-home, blue-collar baseball guys who loved playing the game of baseball. It was one of those years. We didn’t win as many games as we would have liked.”
For comparison, the 1983 JMU team went to the College World Series – with no future Major League pitchers.
Storm of the Century
Mummau points out the 1993 team played early in the season in the Carolinas and Georgia against strong non-conference foes. The team returned to Harrisonburg, and soon after, a major snowstorm hit – with 16 to 19 inches in the area in mid-March. JMU did not play following two games on March 14 at East Carolina until hosting Rider at home on March 30 in 9-2 win.
“It seemed like we shoveled the field for two weeks,” said Mummau, who turned 55 on Aug. 21.
“We stunk on the road,” Western Albemarle High grad Chris Slonaker, a senior pitcher on the 1993 team, said of a 3-15 mark away from home. “I am not sure why that was.”
On a staff with four future big-leaguers plus other pitchers who toiled in the minors, Slonaker never played pro ball – but he had a team-best two shutouts in 1993. Forster led the staff in wins with six and in innings pitched and strikeouts.
But many players on the team found success after college – some outside of baseball.
Among the four pitchers, the backstory for Venafro may have been the most inspiring. He was on the verge of being cut as a position player before making the switch to the mound. He did not see game action in 1993, per baseballcube.com.
“Mike was a walk on outfielder who converted to a lefty sidearm pitcher,” Kevin Anderson, a JMU pitching coach in 1993, wrote to the AFP. “He was a tremendous athlete who worked as hard as any player I’ve ever coached to develop into a Major Leaguer. The transition was not easy. He did not have instant success but he never gave up on himself. He made himself into a dominant arm and Major Leaguer.”
“At first, he was terrible,” Slonaker noted of Venafro. The lefty was on the verge of being cut, but Slonaker – a senior captain – noted the team needed a lefty to throw batting practice since the coaches threw from the right side.
The head coach for JMU in 1993 was Ray Heatwole – it was the last of four seasons at the helm for the Turner Ashby High School graduate, who had been an assistant coach with a focus on pitching at JMU under the late Brad Babcock.
Anderson noted he and Heatwole “collaborated on all aspects. I was technically the pitching coach but we worked together. He and (long time college coach) Jack Stallings were the two most knowledgeable baseball men I have ever known.” Now the head coach at Shenandoah University, Anderson became the head coach at JMU after Heatwole stepped down.
Mummau, drafted in 1993 by the Toronto Blue Jays, said Heatwole was effective with pitchers for two main reasons.
“I think there are two things. He was an unbelievable recruiter. He could see things as a recruiter; he could really identity talent. He got talented kids to school. He was a really good listener. He was not afraid to take chances on guys who were not from big programs. If he thought you could play, he would scoop you up,” said Mummau, from Lancaster, Pa. “And as a pitching coach, he could teach you the mechanics. He was disciplined, which was huge, which we all needed. He held us accountability through routines and workouts.”
McNichol said he benefitted by throwing long toss on the side while not pitching much in 1993. He said that added to his velocity.
For good measure, the 1993 team had three other pitchers that were eventually drafted and played in the minors:
- Casey Brookens, picked in the 30th round in 1996 by the Cubs, played Single-A ball through 1998.
- Jeff Hafer, who was from Northern Virginia and was selected in the 38th round in 1996 by the New York Mets. He reached the Double-A level before his career ended after the 2000 season.
- Greg Whiteman, who went in the third round to the Detroit Tigers in 1994. From Maryland, he reached Double-A Reading in the Philadelphia Phillies chain, while his last season was 1998.
Away from baseball, Slonaker has won the club or senior golf title 16 times at Spotswood Country Club in Harrisonburg. Two of his sons played college golf in Virginia: Meade at Hampden-Sydney and Ryan at Virginia Tech.
Another pitcher on that team, Shaun O’Neal of the Richmond area, worked in the front office of the Class A Frederick Keys from 1996-2007, per his Linkedin page.
Heatwole and Babcock both are in the Virginia Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame, and Heatwole is also in the Bridgewater College and Virginia High School League Hall of Fames. Heatwole won three state titles while coaching at TA during two stints.
Mummau is in the Valley League Hall of Fame after he starred for New Market and Winchester. Anderson is also in the Valley League Hall of Fame as he coached Winchester and New Market. Both are in the class of 2018.
The Cal Raleigh effect
Mummau has lived in Florida several years and has been a scout more than 20 years for Seattle.
Among some of his key signings have been Seattle catcher Cal Raleigh, who was born in Harrisonburg and played at Florida State; North Carolina native Kyle Seager, a third baseman for the Mariners from 2011-2021; Seattle pitcher Logan Gilbert, an All-Star in 2024; former catcher Mike Zunino, an All-Star once while playing from 2013-2023; and Dustin Ackley, a University of North Carolina product who played in the Majors from 2011-2016.
Mummau’s son, Jake, was a senior on the baseball team at Appalachian State this past season. They swept a three-game series in April at JMU by a combined score of 43-20, and Mummau had five hits.
Raleigh’s father, Todd, was an assistant coach at JMU from 1996-1998, and Cal was born Nov. 26, 1996, in Harrisonburg. When Anderson got married, a young Cal came to the event with his parents, and many former JMU players were in attendance. Some of them have a photo with a young Cal Raleigh being passed around.
Seattle recently drafted in the fifth-round slugger Hayden Yost out of the University of Florida, and Mummau helped sign him. In one of his first pro games, in the California League, he had four hits, including two homers.
Other Seattle picks this year were former Virginia slugger Henry Ford and Michael Petite, who played at VCU.
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David Driver
