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Red Storm hurlers get big club contracts
Four Major League clubs pick up young St. John’s pitchers in the 2019 Draft
COURTESY RED STORM SPORTS
A trio of St. John’s junior pitchers heard their names
called on the third day of the 2019 MLB Draft, as Sean Mooney,
Joe LaSorsa and Jeff Belge were selected by professional
organizations last week.
The Minnesota Twins selected Mooney in the 12th round,
before LaSorsa and Belge were picked by the Rays and Dodgers,
respectively, in the 18th round. Gavin Hollowell came off the
board in the sixth round.
Four Red Storm players total were selected during the 2019
MLB Draft. St. John’s has now had at least four players drafted
in six of the last 10 seasons.
Before seeing his junior season cut short by injury in early
April, Mooney had already long established himself as one of
the nation’s most consistent talents. As a freshman in 2017,
he won National Freshman Pitcher of the Year honors and
becoming just the second player in conference history to be
named the BIG EAST Pitcher of the Year and Freshman of the
Year simultaneously.
He won each of his first eight decisions before finishing the
season ranked in the top 10 nationally in both ERA (1.71) and
WHIP (0.86).
After three years in Queens, Mooney ranks fifth on the
Red Storm’s all-time lists for wins and strikeouts. For his
St. John’s career, opponents hit just .204 off the Marmora,
New Jersey, native.
LaSorsa earned his selection after his junior season,
ranking seventh in Division I with a 1.66 ERA. This past year,
LaSorsa won six games in first season as a starter, most of
which was spent in the Friday night role. He struck out twice
as many batters as he walked and
limited opponents to a .199 batting
average in 86.2 innings of work.
The Katonah, New York, native
helped the Johnnies secure their
league-record 16th straight BIG EAST
Championship berth by throwing
eight shutout innings against
Seton Hall in the season’s final
series opener.
He was named to the All-BIG
EAST Second Team as a freshman
in 2017 before finding a spot on
the conference’s top squad this
spring. Prior to the start of the 2019
campaign, he was named to the
preseason watch list for the National Collegiate
Baseball Writers Associations’ Stopper of the
Year Award, presented to the best relief pitcher
in college baseball.
Belge heard his name called three picks
after his teammate LaSorsa in the 18th
round. This past season, the 6-foot-5 southpaw
continued to intimidate the opposition, leading
the team with 73 strikeouts in just 61.2 innings
of work. Ranking inside the top 100 nationally
in strikeouts per nine innings, he fanned eight
batters in a single game four separate times this
season, including a stretch of three-straight
such affairs in March.
The Syracuse, New York, native anchored
the Red Storm to its BIG EAST title in 2018,
throwing eight innings of two-hit shutout ball in
the decisive game of the conference tournament.
He carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning of
that contest, earning himself the Jack Kaiser
Award as the championship’s most outstanding
player. He followed up that performance with a
strong showing in the NCAA Clemson Regional,
matching a career high with nine strikeouts
and limiting a potent Tigers offense over the
game’s first five innings.
Belge struck out 199 batters in just 177
innings over his three years in Queens, good
enough for the 10th on the program’s all-time
Ks list.
Left-hander Joe LaSorsa Courtesy of St. John’s University Athletics
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