July 19, 2005

Queens, NY - A pair of St. John's University baseball players have been selected to play in the New England Collegiate Baseball League's (NECBL) All-Star Game, highlighting a strong summer showing for the Red Storm. The NECBL is one of several summer wood-bat leagues throughout the country.

The NECBL All-Star Game will be held on Saturday, July 24 at Cardines Field in Newport, Rhode Island. A home run derby will be held at 3:30 p.m., and first pitch is slated for 6:35 p.m.

St. John's redshirt junior Chris Joachim (Massapequa Park, NY) and sophomore Gil Zayas (East New York, NJ) were selected as starters for the league's mid-summer classic.

Joachim, who was selected as the starting designated hitter for the Northern Division, is playing with the Vermont Mountaineers. He is batting .273 with two doubles, two triples, one home run and 13 RBI in 22 games for Vermont, which is 17-14 overall and in third place.

Zayas, meanwhile, was selected as the starting third baseman for the defending champion Southern Division. A reserve during his freshman year at St. John's, Zayas has seen plenty of action while playing for the Manchester (NH) Silkworms, who lead the division with an 18-13 record. One of the best infield arms in the league, Zayas has been solid at the plate, posting a pair of six-game hit streaks while batting .257 overall with nine RBI. Since June 24, he has hit .313, while his 16 runs scored rank among the top-12 in the NECBL.

Five other Red Storm players are on rosters in the NECBL. Redshirt junior Rob Delaney (River Vale, NJ), who is also playing for Vermont, has a 3-1 record with a 3.03 earned run average; redshirt junior Justin Muir (Plainsboro, NJ) is 1-0 with a 1.40 earned run average and has struck out 20 (seven walks) in 25.2 innings for the Sanford (ME) Mainers; his teammate, junior second baseman Sam DeLuca (Pelham, NY) is batting .237 while appearing in 19 games; senior Eddie Schultz (Flemington, NJ) is batting .230 for the Concord (NH) Quarry Dogs; and senior Ken Devenney (Philadelphia, PA), who missed the latter portion of the St. John's season after an injury, is batting .152 in 11 games with the Holyoke (MA) Giants.

Senior outfielder Will Vogl (Pacifica, CA) made a late start with the Madison (WI) Mallards of the Northwoods League after returning from an injury, but is batting .262 in 12 games, with two doubles and one triple.

Junior Anthony Smith (Katonah, NY) is playing in the prestigious Cape Cod League for the Chatham (MA) A's. He has posted an impressive 1.59 earned run average in three appearances as a pitcher, and is batting .159 with three home runs and six RBI.

A pair of St. John's players are on rosters in the Atlantic Collegiate Baseball League. Sophomore outfielder Bryan Dirr (Levittown, NY) is batting .224 in 19 games for the Metro (NY) Cadets, while redshirt sophomore James Lally (Floral Park, NY) is 2-3 with a 6.75 earned run average.

St. John's finished the 2005 season with a 41-18 record, ranked No. 30 in the country by Collegiate Baseball. The team was selected as an at-large representative to the NCAA Tournament for the second-straight year and advanced to the Regional Championship, where they lost to third-ranked Oregon State. St. John's won the BIG EAST Regular Season Championship with a 19-4 mark in league play and posted a school record for wins with 41, the most since the 1978 Frank Viola-led team advanced to the College World Series.