# James Madison Dukes softball

The James Madison Dukes softball team represents James Madison University in NCAA Division I college softball. The team participates in the Sun Belt Conference (SBC) and plays home games in Veterans Memorial Park. JMU has won six CAA championships, including back-to-back Championships in 2016 and 2017. The Dukes have been to the NCAA Division I softball tournament nine times, hosting Regionals and Super Regionals in 2016. The team's head coach is Loren LaPorte, leading the Dukes to a 197–74 record in six seasons.

## Coaching history

| Years | Coach | Record | % |
| 2002–2012 | Katie Flynn | 283–252 | .528 |
| 2013–2017 | Mickey Dean | 187–49 | .738 |
| 2017–present | Loren LaPorte | 197–74 | .727 |

## Season results

| Season | Coach | Record | CAA Record | Notes |
| 2002 | Katie Flynn | 25–24 | 5–9 | |
| 2003 | Katie Flynn | 19–31 | 5–3 | |
| 2004 | Katie Flynn | 30–32 | 12–6 | |
| 2005 | Katie Flynn | 28–27 | 8–10 | |
| 2006 | Katie Flynn | 24–28 | 9–12 | |
| 2007 | Katie Flynn | 38–16 | 16–4 | |
| 2008 | Katie Flynn | 32–22 | 16–8 | |
| 2009 | Katie Flynn | 35–16 | 12–8 | CAA Champions, NCAA Regionals |
| 2010 | Katie Flynn | 24–33 | 11–10 | |
| 2011 | Katie Flynn | 29–23 | 8–11 | |
| 2012 | Katie Flynn | 30–26 | 15–5 | |
| 2013 | Mickey Dean | 42–17 | 18–3 | NCAA Regionals |
| 2014 | Mickey Dean | 45–15 | 15–3 | CAA Champions, NCAA Regionals |
| 2015 | Mickey Dean | 48–10 | 19–0 | NCAA Regionals |
| 2016 | Mickey Dean | 50–6 | 18–1 | CAA Champions, NCAA Super Regionals |
| 2017 | Mickey Dean | 52–8 | 18–2 | CAA Champions, NCAA Regionals |
| 2018 | Loren LaPorte | 43–14 | 19–2 | NCAA Regionals |
| 2019 | Loren LaPorte | 51–10 | 20–1 | CAA Champions, NCAA Super Regionals |
| 2020 | Loren LaPorte | 13–6 | 0–0 | Season cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic |
| 2021 | Loren LaPorte | 41–4 | 17–1 | CAA Champions, Women's College World Series |
| 2022 | Loren LaPorte | 21–21 | 10–5 | |
| 2023 | Loren LaPorte | 28–19 | 13–11 | |
2021 Season
After a dominant performance in the regular season, the Dukes entered the postseason with a 34–1 record. In the CAA tournament, the Dukes beat Delaware for their sixth conference title and were rewarded with the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA softball tournament.
The Dukes advanced to the Super Regionals after beating #9 Tennessee and #25 Liberty twice in the Knoxville Regional. They then went on to beat #8 Mizzou on the road in the best-of-three series in Columbia, Missouri.
After punching their ticket to the Women's College World Series (WCWS) for the first time, the James Madison Dukes advanced to the WCWS semifinals after beating #1 Oklahoma 4–3 in eight innings and #5 Oklahoma State 2–1 in the first and second rounds of the tournament. In doing so, they became the first-ever unseeded team to start 2–0 in the WCWS and reach the semifinal games. Their historic run came to a close just short of the finals, falling to eventual champions #1 Oklahoma twice.

## Championships
### Conference Championships

| Season | Conference | Record | Head Coach |
| 2009 | Colonial Athletic Association | 35–16 | Katie Flynn |
| 2014 | Colonial Athletic Association | 45–15 | Mickey Dean |
| 2016 | Colonial Athletic Association | 50–6 | Mickey Dean |
| 2017 | Colonial Athletic Association | 52–8 | Mickey Dean |
| 2019 | Colonial Athletic Association | 51–10 | Loren LaPorte |
| 2021 | Colonial Athletic Association | 41–4 | Loren LaPorte |

## NCAA Regional appearances

* NCAA Regional Results

## Notable players
### National awards
#### NFCA National Player of the Year

* Megan Good (2017)

#### Softball America Pitcher of the Year

* Odicci Alexander (2021)

#### D1 Softball's Woman of the Year

* Odicci Alexander (2021)

### All-Americans

* 2014: Jailyn Ford (2nd team)
* 2015: Megan Good (2nd team)
* 2015: Jailyn Ford (3rd team)
* 2016: Jailyn Ford (1st team)
* 2016: Megan Good (1st team)
* 2017: Megan Good (1st team)
* 2018: Megan Good (1st team)
* 2018: Odicci Alexander (3rd team)
* 2018: Kate Gordon (3rd team)
* 2019: Odicci Alexander (3rd team)
* 2019: Megan Good (3rd team)
* 2019: Kate Gordon (3rd team)
* 2021: Odicci Alexander (2nd team)

## Coaching Staff Awards

* NFCA Division I National Coaching Staff of the Year (2021)
* NFCA Northeast Coaching Staff of the Year (2021)