Temple University Athletics
TEMPLE BASEBALL SIGNS FOUR TO NLI
12.5.05 | Baseball
PHILADELPHIA -- Temple's new baseball head coach Rob Valli has announced the signing of four student-athletes, Arshwin Asjes, Sean Barksdale, Rob Chamra and Matt Mongiardini, to National Letters of Intent. The quartet is the beginning of Valli's first recruiting class.
"I'm proud of the fact that our former players at Gloucester chose Temple over some other high profile programs," Valli said. "It demonstrates their confidence in our ability to develop players and belief that Temple University is quickly moving in a positive direction."
Asjes (6-3, 225) is a right-handed pitcher who played last season as a freshman under Valli at GCC, helping lead the Roadrunners to the 2005 NJCAA National Championship. The Curacao native was selected in the 34th Round (1,024th overall) of the 2005 Major League Draft by the Cleveland Indians, but chose to return to school.
He has good command of a fastball that tops out at 93 mph with a nasty 78-81 mph slider as his out pitch. Asjes is the first Temple signee to have been drafted since Craig Munroe, who was selected by the Minnesota Twins in the 46th round (1,341st overall) in the 1996 MLB Draft.
"Arshy is a fierce competitor who wants the ball in a tough spot," Valli said. "We're happy to bring him with us to Temple and expect that he'll continue to improve his stock as a pro prospect."
Chamra (6-5, 175) is a right-handed pitcher who throws in the mid-80s and has tons of upside. He was a combined 10-3 with a 2.34 ERA as a sophomore and junior at Cranford, N.J. (Cranford HS), while striking out 74 batters and holding opponents to a .217 batting average.
"Rob is a leader among his peers and an impressive young man," Valli said. "He has all the tools to be an impact pitcher early in his college career. Rob is exactly the type of student-athlete that we want in our program. He works at being the best he can be and is realizing the success that comes with hard work."
Barksdale (6-0, 200) was the 2005 Philadelphia Catholic League MVP and was named the Delaware County Times Player of the Year as an outfielder at Cardinal O'Hara. He batted .536 with nine homeruns and 44 RBI as a senior and spent the fall semester at Gloucester CC. The Glenolden, Pa. native was also named to the Philadelphia Daily News All-City first team and Philadelphia Inquirer All-Southeastern Pennsylvania first team.
"Having the opportunity to continue to coach Sean is very exciting," Valli said. "He has the tools and work ethic to be an excellent college player with a future in professional baseball. His ability to run and hit for power will make him a very exciting player to watch."
Mongiardini (6-2, 170) is a right-handed pitcher who sat out most of his senior season at Toms River East HS due to injury. He comes from an outstanding baseball program and family (brother, Mike, pitches at Yale). Mongiardini possesses an upper-80s fastball with command of two out-pitches, a change-up and slider. Like Barksdale, Mongiardini spent this fall semester at Gloucester CC and will join the team in the fall of 2006.
"Matt has completely recovered from a very long and frustrating rehab period," Valli said. "His work ethic is tremendous and we expect Matt to be an outstanding Atlantic 10 Conference pitcher upon his arrival at Temple."
Temple finished last season with a 17-33 record and 8-16 mark in the Atlantic 10. The Owls open their season on February 24 at LSU.
