June 12, 2007

OMAHA, NE - The inaugural Ping!Baseball All Ping! Freshmen Team, Ping! Freshman Player of the Year and Ping! Freshman Pitcher of the Year were announced today by Ping!Baseball. The rosters were selected by the Ping!Baseball staff after countless hours spent searching rosters for the premier freshmen players in the nation.

 

Each year college baseball teams lose hundreds of quality players when their student-athletes graduate or advance their game to the professional level. However every spring a new crop of future stars arises to replenish the lineups. This year's group is especially talented, with a number of competitors being good bets to spend their future summers swinging lumber instead of aluminum in the professional leagues.

 

Among this crop, La Salle University's John Malloy was one of just three Atlantic 10 freshmen to make the list. He, along with Richmond's starting pitcher Matt Zielinski and George Washington second baseman Tom Zebroski, were selected by the organization.

 

This is Malloy's second national postseason honor, as he was selected to the Louisville Slugger Freshman All-America Team.

 

Also a member of the 2007 Atlantic 10 All-Rookie Team, Malloy led the Explorers in at-bats (211), hits (69), doubles (18) and three-hit games (six) and was second in runs (28) and total bases (93).

 

The Fairless Hills, PA, native set a school and Conference-freshman record with a 24-game hitting streak to open the season, the second-longest in league annals. Malloy finished the year with a .327 batting average and .441 slugging percentage.

The complete team can be viewed by clicking here.