NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- The Virginia Sports Information Directors (VaSID) announced the 2025 All-State baseball awards on Wednesday morning with three Christopher Newport players earning the selection this season. Junior outfielder Jake Benedict was named a first team All-State pick while sophomore first baseman Aaron Maxie and senior relief pitcher Christian Williams each collected second team honors. 

The 2025 selections marks ten straight years that Christopher Newport boasts at least three All-State picks from the organization. Since 1998, the Captains have featured at least one All-State selection in all but two years.

The Captains were led this season by Benedict at the top of the lineup who turned in an All-Region season in his third year at Christopher Newport. Earning second team All-South Region honors from D3baseball.com and second team All-South honors from the ABCA, Benedict was also a first team All-Conference pick from the Coast-To-Coast Athletic Conference. 

This season, the Captains' leadoff man was red-hot in leading the high-scoring offense for CNU and was the only player to start all 39 games in 2025. He was the team's leader in slugging percentage with the highest mark for any player since 2022 with a .599 mark after delivering 13 doubles, two triples, and five home runs. Benedict registered at least one base hit in all but eight games this season and reached base in 33 of 39 games played while boasting a .471 on-base percentage, ranking second on the team. He scored 51 runs, leading the Captains with the most in a single year since Seth Woodard scored a record-setting 64 in 2019. Also a terror on the basepaths, Benedict snagged 18 stolen bases in 19 attempts and became just the third CNU player to steal 18 bags in a season since 2013. 

Also earning All-State accolades on the second team were Maxie and Williams. 

Maxie, a sophomore from Mechanicsville, Va., put together one of the finest single season performances by a first baseman in program history. The second-year player logged the eighth finest batting average in program lore, hitting a team-best .411 with 51 hits in 124 at-bats while reaching base at a .530 clip, ranking as the fourth best mark in CNU history. While hitting in the middle of the CNU lineup, Maxie drove in a team-high 44 runs while also scoring 29 times. Defensively, Maxie had just one error in 296 total chances to post the fifth-best fielding percentage in program history -- the best by a non-catcher. 

On the mound, Christian Williams wrapped up his career at CNU with an outstanding first-half for the Captains before suffering a season-ending injury that kept him off the field the remainder of the year. A consistent arm out of the pen, Williams struck out 10 batters in 10.1 innings pitched to close out the year with a 1-0 record and  0.87 ERA with four saves. Early in the season, the lefty was named to the D3baseball.com National Team of the Week with a win and two saves during a three-game sweep against Messiah and a come-from-behind win against Bridgewater. His efforts helped CNU race out to a 4-0 start to the season with the dominant showing. Later in the year, he struck out three in back-to-back appearances on March 7-8 against Hartford and Penn State Harrisburg. 

Christopher Newport reached the Coast-To-Coast Athletic Conference Championship and finished the season with a 21-18 overall record in 2025. 

2025 VaSID College Division All-State Baseball
Coach of the Year: Travis Beazley, Lynchburg
Player of the Year: Nick Stavros, Bridgewater
Pitcher of the Year: Tyler Kaltreider, Lynchburg
Rookie of the Year: Liam Stewart, Shenandoah

First Team
SP - Tyler Kaltreider, Lynchburg
SP - Justin Ritz, Mary Washington
SP - William Wian, Randolph-Macon
RP - Liam Stewart, Shenandoah
RP - Colin McGuire, Lynchburg
C - Brody Pickette, Shenandoah
1B - Noah Cornwell, Shenandoah
2B - Nick Stavros, Bridgewater
3B - Ashton Smith, Bridgewater
SS - CJ Chatterton, Randolph-Macon
OF - Jake Benedict, Christopher Newport
OF - Joe Munitz, Lynchburg
OF - Jamie Padilla, Shenandoah
OF - Kevin Zischke, Averett
DH - Zack Chadwell, Bridgewater
UTIL - Kyle Garrett, Shenandoah

Second Team
SP - Preston Branzelle, Virginia State
SP - Zack Geertsen, Southern Virginia
SP - Cam Nuckols, Bridgewater
RP - Brendan McComber, Mary Washington
RP - Sam Slevin, Randolph-Macon
RP - Christian Williams, Christopher Newport
C - Chaz Harvey, Randolph-Macon
1B - Aaron Maxie, Christopher Newport
2B - Benton Jones, Lynchburg
3B - Trevor Testerman, Averett
SS - Bobby Leitzel, Marymount
OF - Bobby Ayscue, Mary Washington
OF - Haden Madagan, Shenandoah
OF - Kyle Markowitz, Ferrum
OF - Chase Sanford, Hampden-Sydney
DH - Zack Geertsen, Southern Virginia
UTIL - Conner Moore, Lynchburg