By Laura Amato
The accolades keep on coming for St. John’s ace Sean Mooney – and this one might be the most prestigious yet.
The Red Storm freshman standout earned a spot on USA Baseball’s Collegiate National Team, the program announced Tuesday. Mooney was just one of 14 non draft-eligible underclassmen to earn a spot on the roster, joining some of the biggest names in the college game.
Mooney is just the second player in St. John’s baseball history to earn the honor, joining former Johnnie and American League Cy Young winner Frank Viola.
The 2017 Collegiate National Team will play a 21-game schedule this summer, including three international series against national teams from Cuba, Chinese Taipei and Japan.
Of course, Mooney’s inclusion on team makes sense. The right-hander posted an 8-2 record in his first year of college ball, with a 1.71 ERA and a 0.86 WHIP, both of which were top-10 performances, nationally.
Mooney, who was named National Freshman Pitcher of the Year by Collegiate Baseball and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association, was the Red Storm’s first three-time All-American since Joe Panik. The Ocean City native racked up 88 strikeouts, while walking just 16, in 100 innings – the fourth-highest single-season innings total in program history.
He was also named Big East Pitcher of the Year and Freshman of the Year.
St. John’s Alum Continues Strong Performance on International State
Red Storm alumnus Daryl Homer struck gold at the Pan American Championships, notching first-place fencing finishes in both the team and individual saber competition in Montreal last weekend.
The 2016 Rio Olympic silver medalist, who is currently ranked No. 3 in the world, notched a perfect 5-0 record in pool play before breezing by his first two opponents to earn a semifinals berth.
Homer defeated fellow Americans Jeff Spear and Eli Dershwitz in the final two bouts, winning his first individual gold medal since 2011.
It was the seventh straight year Homer picked up at least one gold medal at the tournament.
Three St. John’s alums – including 2017 graduate and national epee champion Cooper Schumacher – competed at the games.
Benjamin Bratton also medaled at the games, taking home bronze in the epee competition.
Ponds Going National, Trains with Team USA
Shamorie Ponds made a splash in the Red Storm backcourt this season, notching a record-setting rookie year and, now, the rising sophomore is looking to take his game to the national level.
The former Jefferson standout accepted an invitation to training camp with the United States U19 National Team, working with the squad from June 18-26 at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs.
It’s not the first time Ponds has trained with the national team. He was also invited to attend last year’s U18 national team. Ponds has plenty of reason to be confident in his game, no matter who he’s playing with or against.
He set a new freshman scoring record this winter with 573 points and averaged 17.4 points per game, good enough for fifth in the conference.
Ponds also led the Big East in steals with 2.1 per game, the first freshman to do so since 1998-99.
