Baseball's Mike Mooney Inks Deal
Friday, June 26, 2009 | Baseball
Junior shortstop Mike Mooney (Loxahatchee, Fla.) recently signed a professional baseball contract with the Baltimore Orioles and will forego his final campaign at the University of Florida. He has been assigned to the Aberdeen IronBirds of the Class A Short-Season New York-Penn League. Seven of the school-record 10 Gators chosen in the 2009 Major League Baseball Draft have now inked deals.
The Orioles chose Mooney in the 23rd round with the 686th selection. In his debut season at Florida, he hit .306 with 45 runs, 24 RBI and six doubles and was among the team leaders with a .442 on-base percentage and 34 walks. Mooney appeared in 52 games, with 47 starts at shortstop and three at third base, and had a .306 clip in 23 SEC contests. He was voted to the All-Tournament Team during the NCAA Gainesville Regional after going 4-for-12 (.333) with three runs and three RBI.
The infielder matched a career high with a 3-for-5 effort in the 16-5 win over Miami (Fla.), when he had an RBI single and scored twice against the Hurricanes. In the opening round of NCAA play, Mooney pulled UF to within 6-5 of Bethune-Cookman with a two-out, two-run single in the eighth inning. The Gators tallied three runs in the ninth to edge the Wildcats, 8-7.
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