NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – Randolph-Macon College opened the abbreviated 2020 season with an impressive 15-1 start and, for their efforts, the Yellow Jackets highlighted the Virginia Sports Information Directors (VaSID) College Division All-State Baseball awards. Senior Matt Nickles (Stafford, Va./Colonial Forge) and Ray Hedrick earned Pitcher and Coach of the Year honors as R-MC also garnered four All-State selections.

The Yellow Jackets had Matt Nickles as the lone First Team selection. R-MC had three on Second Team: senior starting pitcher Michael Zubovich (Chantilly, Va./Freedom), senior reliever Tyler Dunn (Salisbury, Md./James M. Bennett) and senior outfielder Shawn Nickles (Stafford, Va./Colonial Forge).

Matt Nickles is the third consecutive Yellow Jacket arm to earn State Pitcher of the Year accolades, joining Colin Selby (2018) and Nick Roth (2019). The right-hander finished the year ranked second nationally in total strikeouts with 54. He also ranked fourth with six starts, 14th with 16.76 strikeouts per 9 innings, and 16th with three victories.

Hedrick was voted State Coach of the Year for the fifth time (2008, 2013, 2016, 2018, 2020). Getting his squad out to the finest start in program history against a difficult schedule, The Yellow Jackets posted wins over Rhodes, Cortland and Christopher Newport while also picking up a three-game sweep over TCNJ. R-MC was No. 1 in the final Perfect Game poll and ranked No. 2 in the D3baseball.com/NCBWA rankings.

Zubovich made six appearances with four starts. The right-hander registered a 4-0 record with a 2.79 ERA. Zubovich had 32 strikeouts and just six walks in 31.0 innings. He fanned seven in 7.0 innings in earning a win over Cortland. Zubovich had eight punchouts in 6.0 frames in Game 2 vs. TCNJ. He earned an ODAC win over Guilford with one hit and seven strikeouts in 7.0 innings. Zubovich was All-State First Team a season ago.

Dunn went 1-0 with an ERA of 0.82 in eight appearances out of the bullpen. He recorded 10 strikeouts in 11.0 innings. The righty earned the win in a 7-6 victory at Christopher Newport with one hit and one strikeout in 2.0 innings. Dunn had three punchouts in 2.0 innings vs. Pitt-Bradford. He fanned three in 1.0 inning in the first game vs. Guilford.

Shawn Nickles started all 16 games in right field for the Yellow Jackets. He led the team with two home runs and 25 RBI. Nickles batted .339 with an on-base percentage of .423 and slugging percentage of .532. He went 3 for 6 with four runs and four RBI in two victories over Alvernia. Nickles was 3 for 5 with two doubles and three RBI in first game vs. TCNJ. He hit for the cycle over the final two games, going 4 for 9 with four runs and seven RBI in home wins over Guilford and York (Pa.). Nickles was All-State Second Team a season ago as well.

VaSID names 44 all-state teams in 23 sports each year, as well as an Academic All-State squad and an all-sports champion in both the University and College Divisions. Membership in VaSID is open to all media relations professionals working at a university or conference in the state of Virginia.    

2020 VaSID All-State Baseball College Division Awards

Player of the Year: Bill Wojcik (3B) – Marymount University

Pitcher of the Year: Matt Nickles (RHP) – Randolph-Macon College

Rookie of the Year: Zach Perkins (OF) – Washington & Lee University

Coach of the Year: Ray Hedrick – Randolph-Macon College

First Team

SP – John Judy (Eastern Mennonite University)

SP – Chase Mayberry (Hampden-Sydney College)

SP – Matt Nickles (Randolph-Macon College)

SP – Brandon Pond (University of Lynchburg)

RP – Matthew Schneider (Marymount University)

RP – Grayson Thurman (University of Lynchburg)

C – Andrew Kasiski (Hampden-Sydney College)

1B – Keegan Woolford (Shenandoah University)

2B – Jacob Talley (Bridgewater College)

3B – Bill Wojcik (Marymount University)

SS – Jason Volpicelli (Washington & Lee University)

OF – Conner Clark (Christopher Newport University)
OF – Trey Hicks (Christopher Newport University)

OF – Grant Thompson (Shenandoah University)

DH – Jackson Gazin (Washington & Lee University)

UTIL – Kinston Carson (University of Lynchburg)

Second Team

SP – Drew Calohan (Ferrum College)
SP – Greg Duncan (University of Virginia-Wise)

SP – Michael Zubovich (Randolph-Macon College)
RP – Tyler Dunn (Randolph-Macon College)

RP – Tom Kellogg (Washington & Lee University)

RP – Bradford Webb (Hampden-Sydney College)

C – Tim Ortega (Ferrum College)

1B – Kevin Russell (Virginia State University)

2B – Mike Ferrara (Marymount University)

3B – Braden Lambert (Newport News Apprentice School)

SS – Bobby Leitzel (Marymount University)

OF – Jarret Biesecker (Bridgewater College)

OF – Henry Delavergne (Shenandoah University)

OF – Shawn Nickles (Randolph-Macon College)

DH – Garrett Howard (Eastern Mennonite University)

UTIL – Jacob Pilarski (Virginia Wesleyan University)