Baseball Regular-Season Major Awards and All-BIG EAST Teams Announced
-- St. John’s John Valente Named Red Storm’s First BIG EAST Player of the Year; Seton Hall’s Ricky DeVito Named Pitcher of the Year; Xavier’s Allbry Major Earned Freshman of the Year Honors --
NEW YORK – St. John’s grad student
John Valente was named the 2018 BIG EAST Player of the Year, becoming the first Red Storm player to earn the honor. Seton Hall sophomore starter
Ricky DeVito was named BIG EAST Pitcher of the Year, while Xavier’s
Allbry Major earned the Freshman of the Year accolades. For the second-straight year and eighth time overall, skipper
Ed Blankmeyer and St. John’s earned Coaching Staff of the Year accolades.
Along with the four major regular-season awards, the conference announced the 2018 All-Conference First and Second Teams, preceding the 2018 BIG EAST Championship presented by Jeep, which will take place at Prasco Park in Mason, Ohio from May 24-27.
The league’s tournament teams: St. John’s, Seton Hall, Butler and Georgetown, made up 25 of the 31 all-conference selections.
St. John’s, the regular season champion and the No. 1 seed in the upcoming tournament, had a league-high six first team selections, nine overall. Seton Hall, the No. 2 seed had seven all-conference honorees total, three on the first team. No. 3 seed Butler placed three on the first team, two on the second team; while Georgetown had four honorees on the second team.
The 16-member first team was made up of four starting pitchers, a reliever, each infield position, with a tie at first base, four outfielders, also due to a tie in voting, a catcher and a designated hitter. Four of the fist team honorees were unanimous selections.
Voting for the All-BIG EAST Team and major awards was conducted by the league's seven head coaches who could not cast a ballot for their own players.
Valente won the conference’s top individual honor after yet another productive campaign at the top of No. 1 seed St. John’s lineup. The graduate student enters postseason play hitting a league-best .363 overall and has had a career year in a number of other categories. The New Rochelle, N.Y., native has set career highs for home runs (5), RBIs (37) and stolen bases (11), while also taking over the Red Storm’s everyday duties at third base. Recently, Valente, also a 2017 First Team All-BIG EAST selection, became the 23rd player in St. John’s history to surpass the 200-hit mark for his career. Valente was the coaches’ unanimous selection at third base to the first team. In league play, Valente helped lead St. John’s to a 15-3 mark with a .351 average, knocking in 11 runs with three doubles, a triple and two run. He crossed the plate 15 times for St. John’s. It is the second year in a row Player of the Year went to a third baseman as Xavier’s Rylan Bannon earned the award in 2017.
Seton Hall’s
DeVito is the fifth Pirate pitcher, first since 2014, to earn BIG EAST Pitcher of the Year distinction. DeVito made six BIG EAST appearance as Seton Hall’s Saturday starter going for 36.0 innings and allowing only three earned runs. In league appearances, he led the BIG EAST in ERA (0.75), and wins (four), while ranking second in opposing batting average (0.176), third in strikeouts (40) and fourth in innings pitched. Heading into the postseason, DeVito has made 10 starts and has allowed more than one earned run only twice. He went 5-2 with a 1.33 ERA and 60 strikeouts in 54.1 innings. DeVito’s standout second season comes on the heels of a freshman year where he posted a 0.00 ERA in 15.0 innings of relief.
Xavier rookie
Major made an immediate impact for the Musketeer offense, finishing his final season ranked in batting average (.291) on an XU offense that led the BIG EAST in hits (529) and slugging (.451) and was second in batting (.276). Major totaled 46 hits for the year, nine of them doubles, two home runs with 21 RBI. He made 13 BIG EAST appearances with a .319 average (15-for-47), crossing the plate five times with four doubles, two homers and six RBI. In the outfield, Major had a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage with 34 putouts and two assists. Major also made six BIG EAST appearances, four starts and finished with a 2-3 record, 3-5 overall. In league play, Major struck out 29 batters. Major is Xavier’s second Freshman of the Year honoree, joining catcher Nate Soria was earned the accolade in 2015.
Blankmeyer, the winningest skipper in conference history with 336 victories, has garnered Coaching Staff of the Year honors eight times, repeating the honor for the second consecutive year and third time in the past four years (2018, 2017, 2015, 2012, 2008, 2007, 2005 and 1996). The 23rd-year head coach of the No. 1 seed Red Storm and his staff led St. John’s to a 2018 record of 36-14 in 50 contests so far, helping the Red Storm capture its league-best ninth BIG EAST Regular Season Title after tallying a 15-3 mark against conference opponents. St. John’s started the year 9-0 in league play, the best start in BIG EAST play by a team since Rutgers in 2011. St. John’s 15-3 mark is the best team finish since Louisville went 20-4 in 2013, a year in which the Cardinals reached the College World Series. St. John’s has been floating around the national rankings this year for the second-straight year, and enter the tournament ranked as high as 18th in the polls.
Joining DeVito on the All-BIG EAST first team pitching staff were St. John’s sophomore ace Sean Mooney, Creighton senior Friday starter Ryan Tapani and Butler sophomore standout Ryan Pepiot. Mooney, the 2017 BIG EAST Pitcher and Freshman of the Year, was a unanimous selection to the first team by the coaches. In 14 starts, Mooney had 10 wins and struck out a league-best 97. Tapani topped the league charts in innings pitched (44.0) and batters struck out (46). He finished his Bluejay career 4-1 in the BIG EAST, 6-0 in non-conference action. Pepiot had a standout season on the mound for Butler, most recently shutting out St. John’s in an eight-inning start to secure the Bulldogs’ first BIG EAST tournament berth. Pepiot was second behind DeVito in league ERA (1.67) and second in conference batters struck out (41). Pepiot tied with DeVito for league-best in runs allowed (6) through 32.1 innings in five BIG EAST appearances.
Pirate senior righty Matt Leon was a unanimous selection as the first team relief pitcher with a 0.00 ERA through 12.2 innings pitched and a league-best 10 appearances in conference play. Leon posted BIG EAST-high eight saves and struck out 13 and held batters to a 0.156 average.
A trio of Red Storm players made up the BIG EAST First Team infield, surrounding BIG EAST Player of the Year Valente at third base. St. John’s grad student Luke Stampfl shared first base honors with Villanova sophomore Ryan Toohers; 2016 Freshman of the Year Josh Shaw repeated as the first team second baseman, and junior Wyatt Mascarella earned a spot at catcher. Stampfl was ranked third in batting average on the Red Storm in league games (.348) with 23 hits, nine RBI and seven walks. He made 74 putouts at first base through 18 league games, assisting 24. Toohers led Villanova in batting in 18 BIG EAST games with a .324 average, 23 hits, six doubles, three home runs and 15 RBI. Toohers made 115 outs at first, 11 assists and fielding percentage of just .984 in league action. Shaw batted .324 in 18 starts, sent in 18 runs, a St. John’s high, and second best in the league-only rankings. He made nine double play in BIG EAST action. Mascarella made 15 starts in league play and led the Red Storm in batting with a .382 average which ranked third in the league rankings. Behind the plate he threw nine to prevent a steal, five in league action. At shortstop Butler senior Michael Hartnagel earned the honor after leading the 9-8 Bulldogs in batting with a .339 average with six doubles, eight RBI and 10 walks. He made just two errors in the field for a .974 average with 34 putouts and 40 assists, 11 double plays.
The All-BIG EAST First Team outfield consisted of Butler senior Gehrig Parker, Creighton sophomore Will Robertson, St. John’s senior Jamie Galazin and Seton Hall senior Ryan Ramiz. Ramiz was a unanimous selection who topped the BIG EAST leaderboard in batting average (.429), on-base percentage (.528)and tied for second in doubles (six). Parker tied for league-high in runs scored with 16 and batted .303 with four home runs in 17 BIG EAST games played. Robertson batted in 16 runs for Creighton in league action with 37 total bases, six doubles. Overall, Robertson was the leader in slugging percentage with .641. Galazin batted in 13 RBI in 18 BIG EAST games. He crossed the plate 13 times and hit three home runs. Galazin had just one error in 44 chances for a .977 fielding percentage.
Creighton junior Ryan Mantle was voted as the first team designated hitter, with a Creighton-best .315 (17-for-54) in 17 BIG EAST games played, walking 11 times for a.439 on-base percentage. Overall, Mantle scored 26 times, had 12 doubles, a pair of triples and three homers with 22 RBI.
Along with Freshman of the Year Major, the All-BIG EAST Second Team featured third baseman Garrett Christman and outfielder Tyler Houston from Butler; starting lefty Brent Killam, first baseman Alex Bernauer, second baseman Jake Bernstein and designated hitter Sammy Stevens; St. John’s starting south paw Kevin Magee, righty reliever Gavin Hollowell and outfielder Anthony Brocato; a pair of righty starters from Seton Hall, Billy Layne Jr. and Shane McCarthy and Pirate shortstop Al Molina and catcher Mike Alescio; and Villanova outfielder David Gulati.
2018 BIG EAST Major Awards and All-Conference Teams
Player of the Year
John Valente, St. John’s, Grad Student, 3B
Pitcher of the Year
Ricky DeVito, Seton Hall, So., RHP
Freshman of the Year
Allbry Major, Xavier, Fr., OF/RHP
Coaching Staff of the Year
St. John’s, Head Coach Ed Blankmeyer
2018 All-BIG EAST First Team #
Ryan Pepiot, Butler, So., RHP
Ryan Tapani, Creighton, Sr., RHP
^ Sean Mooney, St. John’s, So., RHP
Ricky DeVito, Seton Hall, So., RHP
^ Matt Leon, Seton Hall, Sr., RHP (RP)
Luke Stampfl, St. John’s, Grad Student, 1B
Ryan Toohers, Villanova, So., 1B
Josh Shaw, St. John’s, Jr., 2B
Michael Hartnagel, Butler, Sr., SS
^ John Valente, St. John’s, Grad Student, 3B
Wyatt Mascarella, St. John’s, Jr., C
Gehrig Parker, Butler, Sr., OF
Will Robertson, Creighton, So., OF
Jamie Galazin, St. John’s, Sr., OF
^ Ryan Ramiz, Seton Hall, Sr., OF
Ryan Mantle, Creighton, Jr., DH
2018 All-BIG EAST Second Team ##
Brent Killam, Georgetown, So., LHP
Kevin Magee, St. John’s, Sr., LHP
Billy Layne, Jr., Seton Hall, Jr., RHP
Shane McCarthy, Seton Hall, Sr., RHP
Gavin Hollowell, St. John’s, So., RHP (RP)
Alex Bernauer, Georgetown, Sr., 1B
Jake Bernstein, Georgetown, Sr., 2B
Al Molina, Seton Hall, Sr., SS
Garrett Christman, Butler, Sr., 3B
Mike Alescio, Seton Hall, Sr., C
Tyler Houston, Butler, Sr., OF
Anthony Brocato, St. John’s, Sr., OF
David Gulati, Villanova, Sr., OF
Allbry Major, Xavier, Fr., OF
Sammy Stevens, Georgetown, Sr., DH
^ - denotes unanimous first team selection
# - due to a tie in voting, there are four outfielders and two first basemen voted to the All-BIG EAST First Team
## - due to a tie in voting, there are four outfielders voted to the All-BIG EAST Second Team