St. John's University Athletics
Four Johnnies Named to Preseason All-BIG EAST Team; St. John’s Picked Third in Coaches Poll
12/18/2024 11:02:00 AM | Baseball
Evan Chaffee, Louis Marinaro, Luke Orbon and Jackson Tucker earn preseason nods while Johnnies secure one first-place vote
QUEENS, N.Y. – Fresh off its conference-leading 10th BIG EAST Tournament title and 38th appearance in the NCAA Tournament, the St. John's baseball team saw four student-athletes – Evan Chaffee, Louis Marinaro, Luke Orbon, Jackson Tucker – earn spots on the Preseason All-BIG EAST Team, as announced by the league on Wednesday.
The Red Storm was also picked to finish third in the Coaches Poll, receiving one first-place vote and earning 37 points in total. The third-place mark is the highest preseason positioning for the Johnnies since the start of the 2020 season when the team was predicted to finish in a tie for second. Furthermore, four Johnnies on the Preseason All-BIG EAST Team are the most since 2019.
Chaffee is coming off his first collegiate season after redshirting in his lone campaign with Alabama. The southpaw shined in 15 appearances, making 13 starts and boasting a 3-1 record. He also struck out 55 batters across 70.1 innings of work.
The lefty steadily progressed into one of the team's top pitchers as the 2024 season went on, including a BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll effort with eight punchouts across 5.1 innings of one-hit baseball against Creighton on May 4. Chaffee followed up that performance with a season-best 7.1 frames of work against Seton Hall (May 11), surrendering just one run and securing a BIG EAST Pitcher of the Week honor. Chaffee also propelled St. John's to BIG EAST glory with seven strikeouts across six innings against Georgetown in the championship game, capturing All-Tournament Team honors.
Marinaro, a 2024 All-BIG EAST Second Team selection, made 22 relief appearances with one start. The fellow southpaw registered a 6-3 mark with a 3.38 ERA, 58 strikeouts and just 16 walks in 48.0 innings of work. In conference play alone, Marinaro found himself ranked in the top five with a 1.35 ERA (5th) to go along with a .106 batting average against (3rd). Over his final six appearances of the regular season, the lefty allowed just one run on six hits with 19 strikeouts over 16.2 innings of relief.
Earning a pair of weekly honor roll nods, the Croton-on-Hudson, N.Y., native picked up his first accolade on March 18 after tossing 5.2 innings of shutout baseball in two appearances against LIU and Rider. The lefty logged a win, struck out seven and surrendered no walks in his two outings. Marinaro followed up two months later tossing a career-high four scoreless innings out of the bullpen in the team's series opener versus Georgetown. The 6-foot-1 junior allowed just one hit and one walk while striking out four batters.
Orbon emerged as one of the top offensive threats for the Red Storm late in the 2024 slate. Making starts in 52 of his 55 appearances, the middle infielder slashed .271/.367/.427 with 52 hits, 38 runs scored and 33 RBIs. The Johnnies' shortstop also swiped 10 bases while logging nine doubles, three triples and five homers. Orbon also earned an All-Tournament Team selection following the program's run to its 10th BIG EAST crown.
The New Hyde Park, N.Y., native produced a pair of outstanding performances during the regular season against UConn, smacking a three-run blast on April 13, followed by a two-run triple in a 2-for-5 showing at the dish on April 14. Orbon was vital in the Johnnies' postseason slate with back-to-back, two-hit performances with a two-run shot against Georgetown in the opening round (May 22) and scored once against Xavier in the semifinals. While Orbon did record at least one hit in all three games of the Charlotteville Regional, the speedy infielder raced home for his second tally of the game, scoring the winning run in the team's 10-9 extra-inning victory against Penn on June 1.
Tucker continued to be a valuable asset for the Red Storm in 2024, both in the field and at the dish. Receiving the starting nod in 55 of his 56 appearances, the Red Storm's outfielder slashed .293/.398/.444 with 66 hits. Pacing the squad with 21 stolen bases and 55 runs scored, Tucker ranked second on the team with 17 doubles. He also chipped in 40 RBIs, four triples and three homers.
The center fielder was instrumental in the Red Storm's highest ranked regular-season victory when he clapped a solo shot in the seventh inning to seal a 9-5 victory over No. 2 Florida on Opening Night. Tucker managed to reach base in all seven plate appearances against Rider, falling a triple shy of the cycle with four walks, three tallies and a pair of RBIs on March 15. After accumulating two runs scored and two RBIs against Georgetown and Xavier in the BIG EAST Tournament, Tucker flirted with a cycle in the NCAA Regional against the Quakers. The speedster swiped three bases, scored three times and drove in two runs in the team's elimination game victory.
UConn earned the top spot with the remaining seven top votes, while Xavier edged out the Red Storm by one point (38). Creighton (30), Georgetown (25), Seton Hall (24), Villanova (12) and Butler (9) rounded out the remaining Coaches' Poll.
2025 Preseason Baseball All-BIG EAST Team and Awards
Preseason Player of the Year
Maddix Dalena, 1B, Jr., UConn
Preseason Pitcher of the Year
Ian Cooke, RHP, Sr., UConn ^
Preseason All-BIG EAST Team*
C – Owen Carapellotti, Georgetown
1B – Maddix Dalena, UConn
2B – Kyle Hess, Creighton
3B – Tyler Minick, UConn
3B – Luke Hammond, Xavier
SS – Bryan Padilla, UConn
SS – Luke Orbon, St. John's
DH – Connor Misch, Xavier
OF – Jack Moroknek, Butler
OF – Caleb Shpur, UConn
OF – Nolan Sailors, Creighton ^
OF – Kavi Caster, Georgetown
OF – Jackson Tucker, St. John's
OF – Aedan Anderson, Xavier
SP – Ian Cooke, UConn ^
SP – Dominic Cancellieri, Creighton
SP – Andrew Williams, Georgetown
SP – Evan Chaffee, St. John's
SP – Ryan Reich, Seton Hall ^
RP – Brady Afthim, UConn
RP – Louis Marinaro, St. John's
^ - denotes unanimous selection
* due to a tie in voting, there are extra members on the preseason all-conference team.
BIG EAST Baseball Preseason Poll
First place votes in ( )
1. UConn (7) – 49
2. Xavier – 38
3. St. John's (1) – 37
4. Creighton – 30
5. Georgetown – 25
6. Seton Hall – 24
7. Villanova – 12
8. Butler – 9
The Red Storm was also picked to finish third in the Coaches Poll, receiving one first-place vote and earning 37 points in total. The third-place mark is the highest preseason positioning for the Johnnies since the start of the 2020 season when the team was predicted to finish in a tie for second. Furthermore, four Johnnies on the Preseason All-BIG EAST Team are the most since 2019.
Chaffee is coming off his first collegiate season after redshirting in his lone campaign with Alabama. The southpaw shined in 15 appearances, making 13 starts and boasting a 3-1 record. He also struck out 55 batters across 70.1 innings of work.
The lefty steadily progressed into one of the team's top pitchers as the 2024 season went on, including a BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll effort with eight punchouts across 5.1 innings of one-hit baseball against Creighton on May 4. Chaffee followed up that performance with a season-best 7.1 frames of work against Seton Hall (May 11), surrendering just one run and securing a BIG EAST Pitcher of the Week honor. Chaffee also propelled St. John's to BIG EAST glory with seven strikeouts across six innings against Georgetown in the championship game, capturing All-Tournament Team honors.
Marinaro, a 2024 All-BIG EAST Second Team selection, made 22 relief appearances with one start. The fellow southpaw registered a 6-3 mark with a 3.38 ERA, 58 strikeouts and just 16 walks in 48.0 innings of work. In conference play alone, Marinaro found himself ranked in the top five with a 1.35 ERA (5th) to go along with a .106 batting average against (3rd). Over his final six appearances of the regular season, the lefty allowed just one run on six hits with 19 strikeouts over 16.2 innings of relief.
Earning a pair of weekly honor roll nods, the Croton-on-Hudson, N.Y., native picked up his first accolade on March 18 after tossing 5.2 innings of shutout baseball in two appearances against LIU and Rider. The lefty logged a win, struck out seven and surrendered no walks in his two outings. Marinaro followed up two months later tossing a career-high four scoreless innings out of the bullpen in the team's series opener versus Georgetown. The 6-foot-1 junior allowed just one hit and one walk while striking out four batters.
Orbon emerged as one of the top offensive threats for the Red Storm late in the 2024 slate. Making starts in 52 of his 55 appearances, the middle infielder slashed .271/.367/.427 with 52 hits, 38 runs scored and 33 RBIs. The Johnnies' shortstop also swiped 10 bases while logging nine doubles, three triples and five homers. Orbon also earned an All-Tournament Team selection following the program's run to its 10th BIG EAST crown.
The New Hyde Park, N.Y., native produced a pair of outstanding performances during the regular season against UConn, smacking a three-run blast on April 13, followed by a two-run triple in a 2-for-5 showing at the dish on April 14. Orbon was vital in the Johnnies' postseason slate with back-to-back, two-hit performances with a two-run shot against Georgetown in the opening round (May 22) and scored once against Xavier in the semifinals. While Orbon did record at least one hit in all three games of the Charlotteville Regional, the speedy infielder raced home for his second tally of the game, scoring the winning run in the team's 10-9 extra-inning victory against Penn on June 1.
Tucker continued to be a valuable asset for the Red Storm in 2024, both in the field and at the dish. Receiving the starting nod in 55 of his 56 appearances, the Red Storm's outfielder slashed .293/.398/.444 with 66 hits. Pacing the squad with 21 stolen bases and 55 runs scored, Tucker ranked second on the team with 17 doubles. He also chipped in 40 RBIs, four triples and three homers.
The center fielder was instrumental in the Red Storm's highest ranked regular-season victory when he clapped a solo shot in the seventh inning to seal a 9-5 victory over No. 2 Florida on Opening Night. Tucker managed to reach base in all seven plate appearances against Rider, falling a triple shy of the cycle with four walks, three tallies and a pair of RBIs on March 15. After accumulating two runs scored and two RBIs against Georgetown and Xavier in the BIG EAST Tournament, Tucker flirted with a cycle in the NCAA Regional against the Quakers. The speedster swiped three bases, scored three times and drove in two runs in the team's elimination game victory.
UConn earned the top spot with the remaining seven top votes, while Xavier edged out the Red Storm by one point (38). Creighton (30), Georgetown (25), Seton Hall (24), Villanova (12) and Butler (9) rounded out the remaining Coaches' Poll.
2025 Preseason Baseball All-BIG EAST Team and Awards
Preseason Player of the Year
Maddix Dalena, 1B, Jr., UConn
Preseason Pitcher of the Year
Ian Cooke, RHP, Sr., UConn ^
Preseason All-BIG EAST Team*
C – Owen Carapellotti, Georgetown
1B – Maddix Dalena, UConn
2B – Kyle Hess, Creighton
3B – Tyler Minick, UConn
3B – Luke Hammond, Xavier
SS – Bryan Padilla, UConn
SS – Luke Orbon, St. John's
DH – Connor Misch, Xavier
OF – Jack Moroknek, Butler
OF – Caleb Shpur, UConn
OF – Nolan Sailors, Creighton ^
OF – Kavi Caster, Georgetown
OF – Jackson Tucker, St. John's
OF – Aedan Anderson, Xavier
SP – Ian Cooke, UConn ^
SP – Dominic Cancellieri, Creighton
SP – Andrew Williams, Georgetown
SP – Evan Chaffee, St. John's
SP – Ryan Reich, Seton Hall ^
RP – Brady Afthim, UConn
RP – Louis Marinaro, St. John's
^ - denotes unanimous selection
* due to a tie in voting, there are extra members on the preseason all-conference team.
BIG EAST Baseball Preseason Poll
First place votes in ( )
1. UConn (7) – 49
2. Xavier – 38
3. St. John's (1) – 37
4. Creighton – 30
5. Georgetown – 25
6. Seton Hall – 24
7. Villanova – 12
8. Butler – 9
Players Mentioned
LHP
/ Baseball
LHP
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
OF
/ BaseballSt. John's Baseball vs Villanova Highlights 5.11.25
Sunday, May 11
St. John's Baseball vs Villanova Highlights 5.10.25
Saturday, May 10
St. John's Baseball vs Iona Highlights 4.29.2025
Tuesday, April 29
St. John's Baseball vs Rutgers Highlights 4.22.2025
Tuesday, April 22