The 2014 Philadelphia All-Big 5 Team was announced. Individual award winners included two Saint Joseph’s players Collin Forgey, the Player of the Year, and Jordan Carter, the Pitcher of the Year. Hawks skipper Fritz Hamburg and Owls manager Ryan Wheeler were named Coaches of the Year. SJU was named the Team of the Year.
Player of the Year: Collin Forgey, Saint Joseph’s -Forgey added to his season haul that already included the Atlantic 10 Player of the Year award, A-10 All-Conference First Team, All-Academic, and All-Championship honors, and Second Team Academic All-America accolades. He led the Hawks in batting average, slugging percentage, on-base percentage, and runs batted in, while ranking among the team and league leaders in runs scored, hits, triples, and home runs. Forgey also school records for hits and singles in a game with SJU’s first-ever 6-for-6 performance in the Liberty Bell title game on April 22.
Pitcher of the Year: Jordan Carter, Saint Joseph’s -Carter became the first Hawk to ever reach the 10-win plateau on his way to Atlantic 10 Pitcher of the Year, First Team All-Conference, and All-Academic honors. He was named the A-10 Pitcher of the Week twice and the Big 5 Pitcher of the Week a whopping six times, including four consecutive weeks in April and May. He was among the A-10 leaders in wins, strikeouts, and opponents’ batting average, while his 15-strikeout performance at Fordham on April 12 tied a school record and earned Carter national recognition.
Rookies of the Year: Todd Czinege, Villanova and Patrick Krall, Temple –
Czinege led Villanova in batting and topped the team in a total of four offensive categories. He was one of four players on the team to start in all 50 games during the year and he finished the season with a .306 batting average to go along with a .353 on-base percentage and a .434 slugging percentage. Czinege had a team-high 38 runs batted in and also led the Wildcats with 60 hits and five sacrifice flies.
Krall, who served as Temple’s top relief pitcher, recorded the team’s best ERA (0.66). He saw action in 15 games with two saves while pitching 27.1 innings. Krall struck out 12 batters, giving up 17 hits and 3 runs. He recorded 2 saves and had a .181 opponents batting average mark. Krall went 2 – 0 this season.
Coaches of the Year: Fritz Hamburg, Saint Joseph’s and Ryan Wheeler, Temple – Hamburg earned his third Coach of the Year honor in his six seasons on Hawk Hill. He has led the Hawks to their first Atlantic 10 Championship berths and first Liberty Bell Classic titles in program history, and SJU has increased its win total in each of his six years in the Crimson and Gray. In addition, his 141 career victories rank him one win behind Jim Ertel for second on the school’s all-time wins list.
Wheeler, who has 18 years of Division I coaching experience, completed his third season as the head baseball coach at Temple University in 2014. He guided the Owls to 52 total wins and to at least seven conference wins each season. This season Wheeler notched his 50th career win when the Owls upset No. 5 Louisville, 4-2, on May 10. Just five days later, Wheeler guided TU to another upset of a ranked team, No. 16 Houston, 4-1.
Team of the Year: Saint Joseph’s – The Hawks finished the 2014 campaign with a 35-16 record and posted a conference mark of 18-8. Both win totals shattered the previous school records in those categories as SJU finished second in the Atlantic 10 standings, the Hawks’ highest league finish in 30 years. Saint Joseph’s qualified for the Atlantic 10 Championship for the second time in three seasons and also won its second Liberty Bell Classic title in three years on April 22 at Citizens Bank Park.
2014 Philadelphia All-Big 5 Team
C: Brian O’Keefe, Saint Joseph’s
1B: Robert Amaro, Temple
2B: Todd Czinege, Villanova
3B: Stefan Kancylarz, Saint Joseph’s
SS: Kevin Baron, La Salle
OF: Rick Brebner, Penn
OF: Collin Forgey, Saint Joseph’s
OF: Chris Hueth, Saint Joseph’s
OF: Justin Korenblatt, La Salle
DH: Tommy Cunningham, Saint Joseph’s
SP: Jordan Carter, Saint Joseph’s
SP: Connor Cuff, Penn
SP: Matt Hockenberry, Temple
SP: Daniel Thorpe, Saint Joseph’s
RP: Matt Muerer, Villanova
RP: Steven Schuler, Saint Joseph’s
Big 5 All-Academic Team
Austin Bossart, Penn
Collin Forgey, Saint Joseph’s
Ryan Kuehn, Temple
Matt Meurer, Villanova
Shawn O’Neill, La Salle
Student-Athlete of the Year: Collin Forgey, Saint Joseph’s
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