Temple University Athletics
McKoy Named Big 5 Rookie Of The Year; Five More Owls Honored
6.2.08 | Baseball
June 2, 2008
All-Philadelphia Big 5 Team (PDF)
PHILADELPHIA - Temple freshman Byron McKoy was named the Philadelphia Big 5 Rookie of the Year, in voting conducted by the city's head coaches and sports information directors, it was announced today. McKoy was also named to the All-Big 5 team at designated hitter and was joined on the team by senior closer Arshwin Asjes, junior pitcher Matt Mongiardini, junior catcher Kyle Obal, and senior outfielder Stan Orzechowski.
McKoy, a second team All-Atlantic 10 selection at DH, led the Owls in batting (.352), slugging (.511), and on-base percentage (.422). He was second on the team with 11 doubles, six home runs and 17 stolen bases. A two-time Big 5 Player of the Week, he batted .368 with a home run and four steals in four games against city opponents.
His 64 hits set a new Temple freshman record, previously held by former major leaguer John Marzano, who had 57 hits as a freshman in 1982. McKoy is the second Owl in three years to be named the Big 5 Rookie of the Year, joining current junior Jamie Abercrombie, who earned the award in 2006.
Asjes led the Big 5 and set a new program record for saves with ten. He struck out 32 batters in 36 innings, against just nine walks, during his first season as a closer. Asjes, who had a 4.00 ERA, also finished five games with a four-run lead.
The Willemstad, Curacao native is one of three Owls with ten career saves and ranks third all-time at Temple. He was also named to the honorable mention All-Atlantic 10 team as a closer in May and also earned All-Big 5 honors as a starter in 2006.
Mongiardini emerged as the team's ace this spring, going 6-5 with a 3.59 ERA in 14 starts. He led the team in ERA, wins, starts, innings (80.1) and was second with 42 strikeouts. A one-time Big 5 Pitcher of the Week, the right-hander held opponents to a .247 batting average against him.
Obal batted .304 with six doubles and 21 RBI as Temple's starting catcher. He was fourth on the team in batting and scored 26 runs. Defensively, the sure-handed receiver had just three passed balls in 46 starts.
Orzechowski repeats as an All-Big 5 selection after hitting .314 with seven homers and 41 RBI. He led the team in runs (57), triples (four) and homers, while finishing second in hits (65) and RBI. A two-time Big 5 Player of the Week, Orzechowski batted .435 with four homers and 17 RBI over his final 15 games.
The Philadelphia product finishes his two-year Temple career with a .333 average, 29 doubles, seven triples, 13 home runs and 73 RBI in 107 games.
Senior Mike Mongiardini was named to the Big 5 All-Academic Team. A graduate student pursuing a master's in liberal arts, Mongiardini sports a 3.45 GPA. He went 3-2 with a 4.08 ERA and a team-best 43 strikeouts in 2008.
Villanova senior Derek Shunk and Penn sophomore Todd Roth repeated as Philadelphia Big Five Baseball Player and Pitcher of the Year, while Penn's Steve Gable was named the Student-Athlete of the Year and Villanova's Joe Godri was named the Coach of the Year. The Wildcats, who reached the Big East Tournament semifinals and went 6-2 against Big 5 teams, were named the Team of the year.
For the complete team, download the attached PDF.
