Creighton’s Ryan Tapani, St. John’s Sean Mooney, Seton Hall's Ricky DeVito Named To All-America Teams
NEW YORK – A trio of starting pitchers and All-BIG EAST First Team selections, St. John’s sophomore Sean Mooney, Creighton senior Ryan Tapani and Seton Hall sophomore Ricky DeVito earned All-America honors from different organizations over the past week. Mooney earned Second Team honors from the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA), National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA),
Collegiate Baseball News and the Perfect Game. Tapani earned second team accolades from the NCBWA and third team awards from
Collegiate Baseball Newspaper, while DeVito earned second team accolades by
Collegiate Baseball Newspaper.
Mooney, also a finalist for the National Pitcher of the Year Award from the College Baseball Foundation, the sophomore went 11-3 this season with a 2.56 ERA in 16 starts. The right hander from Marmora, N.J., struck out 104 batters in 95.0 innings of work, good enough for eighth on the St. John's single-season record list. Mooney walked just 28 batters on the year while limiting opponents to a .211 batting average.
Mooney's 11 wins tied a St. John's single season record, as the sophomore became just the third hurler in program history and the second in the last 50 years to win 11 decisions in a single campaign.
Through just two seasons on play in Queens, Mooney is already the most decorated player in St. John's history with seven separate All-America honors under his belt. In the last 37 years, the period for which records are readily available, no player has garnered more than five (Jeremy Baltz).
Tapani, the Bluejays’ ace, collected 10 wins (10-1) in 14 starts, finishing his Bluejay career tied for the best winning percentage in school history at 13-2 (.867). Ryan tossed 94.1 innings in 2018, collecting 95 strikeouts and an impressive 2.38 ERA. In BIG EAST action, the right-hander was 4-1 in six starts. Tapani was selected by the Washington Nationals in the 21st round with the 641st pick of the MLB draft. He has already signed with the Nationals and has reported to Florida for assignment.
The BIG EAST Pitcher of the Year, DeVito, became Seton hall’s first All-America selection since Josh Prevost in 2014. DeVito put together one of the finest seasons on the mound in recent memory for the Pirates. In six BIG EAST starts, spanning 36.0 innings, DeVito allowed only three earned runs. In BIG EAST-only games, he led the conference in ERA (0.75) and wins (four), while ranking second in opposing batting average (.176), third in strikeouts (40) and fourth in innings pitched. For the entire season, DeVito has made 12 starts, and allowed more than one earned run only three times. He finished with a 6-3 record with a 1.88 ERA and 67 strikeouts in 62.1 innings. After his shutout of Butler on April 21, DeVito recorded a career-high nine strikeouts over six shutout innings against Villanova on April 28. DeVito’s stellar second season comes on the heels of a flawless freshman year. He had a 0.00 ERA in 15.0 innings out of the bullpen in 2017.
The ABCA, founded in 1945, is the primary professional organization for baseball coaches at the amateur level. Its over 9,600 members represent all 50 states and 23 countries. Since its initial meeting of 27 college baseball coaches in June 1945, Association membership has broadened to include eight divisions: NCAA Division I, II and III, NAIA, NJCAA, Pacific Association Division, High School and Youth. The 75th annual ABCA Convention will be held Jan. 3-6, 2019 in Dallas, Texas.
Founded in 1962, the NCBWA is dedicated to the advancement of college baseball. Membership is open to writers, broadcasters and publicists of the sport. For more information about the NCBWA, visit the association’s official web site,
www.ncbwa.com. This was the 21st year the NCBWA announced All-America first, second and third teams.
For the full list of ABCA All-America honorees click
here. For the list of All-Region honorees click
here.
For the full list of NCBWA All-America honorees click
here.
For the full list of
Collegiate Baseball News All-America honorees click
here.