June 8, 2007

DALLAS, Texas - Villanova junior shortstop Derek Shunk (Yardley, Pa.) has been chosen as the District I Player of the Year by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association. The NCBWA announced its nine district players of the year on Friday as the organization selected its eighth annual award winners.

Shunk is the first Villanova player to receive District Player of the Year accolades from the NCBWA. This season he helped lead a resurgent Wildcat offense and the team qualified for the BIG EAST Championship for the first time since 1997. Overall, Villanova produced 29 victories and had at least a .500 record for the fifth time in the last six seasons.

A strong offense helped catapult the Wildcats back into the postseason and Shunk was the focal point of the offense all year long. He batted .357 with a .444 on-base percentage and a .471 slugging percentage. Shunk finished the year with 75 hits and also led the team with 49 runs scored, 12 doubles and 29 walks.

In his third collegiate season, Shunk started to make his mark on the Villanova record book, becoming the ninth player in program history to register at least 200 career hits and moving into eighth place all-time at Villanova with 205 career hits. Prior to Shunk moving into the school's top-10 list in hits, the list had been unchanged since the end of the 2002 season.

One of the finest moments of the year for Shunk came on May 12 during a doubleheader against Georgetown. In the opening game, Shunk singled to record his 200th career hit in the midst of an 11-6 Wildcat victory. In the nightcap, Shunk made history when he turned an unassisted triple play during the fifth inning of what was then a one-run game. Villanova went on to win the game 5-2.

At the end of the regular season, Shunk was named a third team All-BIG EAST selection. He was also named the All-Philadelphia Big Five shortstop and shared Big Five Player of the Year honors. During the season, Shunk was named BIG EAST Player of the Week on March 12 during the middle of a 12-game hitting streak. He batted a torrid .558 (29-for-52) during the streak and finished in the top-10 in the BIG EAST in batting average.

As a team, Villanova advanced to the third day of the conference tournament with a 3-2 win over Notre Dame in its second playoff game. The Fighting Irish were the five-time defending conference champions.

The NCBWA divides the nation into nine districts, with District I including all schools in the states of Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania.

The other district winners included Todd Frazier (SS, Rutgers), David Price (LHP, Vanderbilt), Dustin Ackley (1B, North Carolina), Zach Putnam (P/DH, Michigan), Tyler Mach (2B, Oklahoma State), Kyle Russell (OF, Texas), Jordan Pacheco (2B, New Mexico) and Brett Wallace (1B, Arizona State).