Central Michigan University Athletics
Jim Geldhof Named Baseball MVP
6/3/2004 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
June 3, 2004
MOUNT PLEASANT -- Record-setting third baseman Jim Geldhof was named Central Michigan University's Most Valuable Player for the 2004 baseball season.
Geldhof was honored here Tuesday night at the annual banquet at the Riverwood Resort.
The left-hand hitting junior from Troy finished the season with a .427 batting average along with nine homers, 68 RBI and 29 stolen bases.
Geldhof set the school record for hits in a season (97) and put his name into seven more single-season offensive categories.
Also honored were: Ryan Cremeans (Adrian/Sr.) as the Most Improved Player; Dan Griesbaum Jr. (Grosse Pointe/Sr.) with the highest GPA for a senior at 3.66; and Derek Schaller (North Branch/Jr.) with the highest GPA for a student-athlete with at least five semesters at 3.53.
The Chippewas also honored three players as honorary captains for the 2004 season -- senior left-handed pitcher T.J. Johnson (Byron/Flint Powers), Geldhof and Griesbaum.
CMU won the Mid-American Conference title with an 18-6 record and finished the season with a 33-24 mark, a marked improvement over the 2003 season when the Chippewas went 25-28.
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CMU sophomore outfielder J.T. Jones (Ithaca) was named to the Academic All-Mid-American Conference first team on Tuesday.
Jones, a sophomore, is a 3.76 student majoring in business. He finished the season with a batting average of .304 with four homers and 28 RBI.
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Central Michigan University had a disappointing finish to an otherwise successful baseball season, losing two straight MAC Tournament games in the tourney it hosted to eventual champion Kent State (6-0) and Miami (6-0).
However, the Chippewas showed incredible improvement from the 2003 season when they went 25-28 and finished fifth in the MAC West. Not picked to finish in the top three in the preseason MAC polls, CMU went 18-6 to win its first conference title since the 1993 squad shared the crown with Kent State University.
It was CMU's first outright title since 1990 and earned second-year head coach Steve Jaksa MAC "Coach of the Year" honors. It marked the 11th time a Chippewa mentor has been so honored. Dean Kreiner earned the award six times and Dave Keilitz four times.
Jim Geldhof, a junior third baseman from Troy, was CMU's lone first team All-MAC selection while second team choices were senior pitchers David LeMieux (Muskegon/Reeths-Puffer) and T.J. Johnson (Byron/Flint Powers) and redshirt freshman designated hitter Bryan Mitzel (Midland/Bullock Creek).
CMU's outstanding season put many Chippewas in the record books:
Jim Geldhof: 1st hits 97 2nd runs 74 RBI 68 T-2nd total bases 149 T-4th at bats 227 T-5th batting average .427 T-7th doubles 17 T-7th extra base hits 30Kurtis Wells: 1st RBI 70 3rd at bats 229 hits 85 7th total bases 131Bryan Mitzel: 3rd RBI 66 T-7th homers 14 T-8th total bases 129J.T. Jones: T-7th at bats 207Eric Cannon: T-1st hit-by-pitch 14Jeremy Crum: 6th walks 42David Latour Jr.: T-9th doubles 16T.J. Johnson: 7th strikeouts 94 8th innings pitched 94.1David LeMieux: T-3rd saves 7Ryan Cremeans: 1st hit batsman 16Team batting: 1st hits 636 at bats 2,021 3rd runs 438 RBI 396 4th total bases 916Team pitching: 2nd innings pitched 498.1 strikeouts 489
