St. John's University Athletics
Mooney Earns Spot on USA Baseball's Collegiate National Team
6/20/2017 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
USA Baseball Collegiate National Team Website
QUEENS, N.Y. - In a postseason filled with regional and national honors for freshman Sean Mooney, perhaps none is as great as his latest accolade, as the right-hander has earned a spot on USA Baseball's Collegiate National Team for the upcoming summer.
One of just 14 non draft-eligible underclassmen nationwide to have already earned a spot on the team, Mooney will join some of college baseball's most recognizable names, including Clemson's Seth Beer, Oregon State's Nick Madrigal and Texas Tech's Steven Gingery on the roster. Mooney is one of just four freshmen currently on the 14-man roster alongside North Carolina's Gianluca Dalatri, Southern Miss' Matt Wallner and Oregon's Kenyon Yovan.
Mooney becomes just the third player in the history of St. John's Baseball to garner a place on the Collegiate National Team, joining the legendary Frank Viola and Doug Latrenta. The 1988 American League Cy Young winner competed with USA Baseball in 1980 after leading the Johnnies to a College World Series appearance, while Latrenta, who ranks seventh on the St. John's career hits list, competed in the 1979 Pan-Am games in San Juan.
The 2017 Collegiate National Team will play a 21-game schedule throughout June and July, beginning on Thursday against the Catawba Valley All-Starts in Cary, N.C. The American squad will undertake three international series, playing a combined 15 contests against national teams from Cuba, Chinese Taipei and Japan. Although the most of the team's games will occur south of the Mason-Dixon, the squad's final series against Japan (July 12-17) will take place at locations throughout New England.
Mooney turned in an exceptional freshman year for the Red Storm, compiling an 8-2 record with a 1.71 ERA and a 0.86 WHIP, both of which rank in the top 10 nationally. The Ocean City High School product tallied 88 strikeouts and surrendering just 16 walks in 100 frames of work this spring, the fourth-highest single-season innings total in program history. Prior to a pair of setbacks in the postseason, Mooney put together an 8-0 record with a 1.10 ERA, good enough to garner BIG EAST Pitcher of the Year and Freshman of the Year accolades. He became just the second player in the 30-plus year history of the league to take home both awards simultaneously, joining eventual first round draft pick Chris Lambert, who accomplished the feat in 2002.
Named the National Freshman Pitcher of the Year by Collegiate Baseball and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Assocation, Mooney became the program's first three-time All-American since Joe Panik in 2011, earning Third Team All-American honors from Collegiate Baseball, the NCBWA and the American Baseball Coaches Association/Rawlings Sports.
