PHILADELPHIA – La Salle pitcher Shawn O'Neill was recognized as the Valley Baseball League's “Pitcher of the Year,” the conference announced today.

The VBL is an NCAA-sanctioned wooden bat summer league headquartered in the Shenandoah Valley, Va. It is one of eight member leagues in the National Alliance of Collegiate Summer Baseball.

O'Neill anchored the starting rotation for the Harrisonburg Turks team which took home the VBL Championship this summer. He earned the win in the deciding game four of the championship series en route to winning the VBL Lineweaver Cup.

The southpaw compiled a 4-1 record with a 1.40 ERA with 69 strikeouts in 64.1 innings. He ranked in the top five in 10 statistical categories among VBL pitchers. For his exceptional performance, O'Neill was recognized as a Valley League Top Performer by Perfect Game USA.

The Philadelphia, Pa. product enjoyed a standout prep career at La Salle High School before spending his first two collegiate years pitching at the University of Richmond. O'Neill transferred To La Salle University in the summer of 2011 and sat out the 2012 season because of NCAA transfer rules.

“We're very happy to have Shawn in our baseball family,” La Salle head coach Mike Lake said. “He competes to the upmost every time he takes the field.”

O'Neill's 69:25 strikeout-walk ratio especially caught Lake's attention.

“He worked a lot on his control this summer,” Lake said. “He's learning to consistently throw two or three of his pitches for strikes.”

O'Neill garnered praise from Turks manager Bob Weese as well.

“Shawn wanted the ball every night and was my go-to guy all summer long,” Weese said. “In my opinion, he was easily the best pitcher in our league this year.”

“I nicknamed him 'bulldog' because of how competitive he was,” Weese said. “I wish I had 100 Shawn O'Neill's on my team.”
 
Other related links:

http://www.perfectgame.org/Articles/View.aspx?article=7597

http://www.perfectgame.org/SummerCollegiate/Rankings.aspx?R=19

http://harrisonburgturks.com/2012/08/11/2012-pitchers-ortman-and-oneill-garner-special-praise/