STANDISH, Maine - The 2019 D3baseball.com All-Region teams have been announced and Saint Joseph's College senior shortstop Joey Murphy (Derry, N.H.) has claimed First Team All-New England accolades.
Murphy, the 2019 Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Player of the Year, becomes just the third SJC player to garner D3Baseball.com First Team All-Region honors after hitting .427 (70-164) with 50 runs, 11 doubles, three triples, one home run, 24 RBI, and a program-record 37 stolen bases this spring. The four-year starter posted a .478 OBP with a .549 slugging percentage, registered 23 multiple-hit games, and ended his senior campaign riding a 17-game hitting streak. Murphy was held hitless in just four of the Monks' 44 games in 2019.
In 152 career games Murphy hit .363 (192-529) with 138 runs, 27 doubles, five triples, three home runs, 80 RBI, and 74 stolen bases. The senior standout broke the Monks' career stolen bases record this spring and currently ranks seventh in team history in runs, eighth in hits, and 10th in batting average. Murphy is one of just four players in program history to notch 70 hits and 50 runs in the same season.
Murphy joins Chad Rafferty '13 (2012) and former teammate Taylor Black '17 (2017) on the short list of Monks who have earned D3Baseball.com First Team All-Region honors. He is one of two GNAC players – Johnson & Wales junior Colby Greenhalgh (Plainfield, Conn.), a Second Team honoree, is the other – to collect 2019 All-New England acclaim.
The 2019 season marks the eighth year that D3baseball.com has named All-Region teams, with more than 800 players nominated. The ballot was then made available to SIDs, who voted for a predetermined number of players in their region, as well as D3baseball.com staff and contributors.
For each of the eight regions, there is a regional player of the year (a batter), a pitcher of the year, a rookie of the year (must be a freshman), and a coach of the year.
Under the watch of 27th-year Head Coach Will Sanborn '86 this season, Saint Joseph's posted a 33-12 overall record – including a 13-3 mark in GNAC play – en route to earning the #2 seed in the conference tournament. The Monks advanced to the GNAC Championship game with wins over Johnson & Wales and Suffolk and – after the Wildcats forced an if-necessary contest – received a walk-off RBI double off the bat of senior catcher Greg Emanuelson (Hudson, N.H.) in the bottom of the 11th to claim their first conference title since 2014.
With the GNAC Championship Saint Joseph's earned an automatic berth into the NCAA DIII Tournament for the ninth time since 2006. The Monks opened with a loss to Wheaton College, stayed alive with a lopsided victory over Baruch College, and saw their season come to a close with a 7-3 loss at the hands of the Lyons.
D3BASEBALL.COM ALL-NEW ENGLAND TEAMS
