May 30, 2006

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - Senior first baseman Jeremy Hunt (Tampa, Fla.) and junior starting pitcher Kevin Mulvey (Parlin, N.J.) were named the Philadelphia Diamond Five Player of the Year and Pitcher of the Year, it was announced on Tuesday. In all, five different Wildcats received recognition as the Diamond Five announced its first-ever postseason awards.

"The Diamond Five was designed to increase public awareness of college baseball in the region, and winning two of the major awards helps our program to get noticed," Villanova head coach Joe Godri said. "It is a thrill to have Jeremy Hunt and Kevin Mulvey honored as the top two players in the city; they are awards which are much deserved."

The first annual Diamond Five Team consisted of one player at each of the infield positions, four outfielders, one designated hitter, four starting pitchers and one relief pitcher. Hunt was the honoree at first base, while Mulvey earned recognition as one of the starting pitchers. Also receiving recognition from Villanova were sophomore Ryan Arcadia (Upper Saddle River, N.J.) at shortstop, senior Kris Molloy (Hillsborough, N.J.) in the outfield and senior Craig Mirsky (Holland, Pa.) as the designated hitter.

The Wildcats five honorees were the most of any other school. Villanova was followed by La Salle with four players recognized, Temple with three honorees, Penn with two players and Saint Joseph's with one award winner.

"Having five players total and the most players on the squad is indicative of our success against the other city teams this season," Godri said. "We felt that we had many deserving players for the Diamond Five squad but also know that we have more work to do against these teams."

Hunt, who was named a second team All-Big East performer, had one of the most prolific offensive seasons by a Villanova player in recent memory. He batted a torrid .385 with 56 runs batted in, and led the Big East with 15 home runs. Hunt led all Diamond Five players in those three categories and also led the Wildcats in doubles (14), on-base percentage (.481) and slugging percentage (.743).

Mulvey was also an All-Big East second team selection, and emerged during the season as one of the top prospects in the Big East for the upcoming Major League Baseball Amateur Draft. Mulvey made 14 starts on the season and logged a team-high 92.1 innings. He notched 88 strikeouts while issuing just 19 unintentional walks, and allowed only 91 hits. Despite a 3-8 record, Mulvey led the team with a 3.61 ERA for the season.

The Wildcats had a terrific season offensively, thanks in part to having the top five hitters in the lineup all reach base at better than a .400 clip. The sparkplug of that offense was Arcadia, who batted .324 while leading the team with 55 runs scored and 19 stolen bases. He became the first Villanova player to score at least 50 runs since 1999, and wound up with 70 hits, 23 walks and 10 times being hit by a pitch.

Many times throughout the season, it seemed as if the Wildcats had two leadoff hitters. While Arcadia had the offense going at the top of the order, Molloy primarily batted ninth and added the same kind of energy to the order as Arcadia. Molloy finished second on the team to Hunt with a .356 batting average and his five triples matched the most by any Villanova hitter in the last 20 years. He stole 14 bases and struck out just 18 times in 205 at-bats. Molloy scored 37 runs and totaled 62 hits while thrilling fans with his flawless and often spectacular defense in centerfield.

Mirsky stepped into the role of designated hitter and number two hitter in the lineup early in the season, and keyed Villanova's base-to-base offense. He set a school record, led the Big East and was among the leaders in the nation with 18 sacrifice hits, as the Wildcats established a single-season program record with 70 sacrifices on the season. Mirsky also batted .332 with 41 runs scored, 32 runs batted in and nine stolen bases. He and Molloy were each honored on the All-Big East third team.

Villanova finished the season with a 27-27 record, including a 7-1 mark against other Diamond Five teams. The Wildcats reached at least 24 victories for the 11th time in the last 12 years and finished with at least a .500 record for the fourth time in Godri's five-year tenure as head coach.

The other major awards announced by the Diamond Five went to Jamie Abercrombie of Temple (Rookie of the Year), Lee Saverio of La Salle (Coach of the Year) and to La Salle for being the Team of the Year.