Amsterdam's Onorati Chosen As NYCBL Player of the Year

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The New York Collegiate Baseball League is pleased to announce that Amsterdam’s Mark Onorati (Manhattan) has been chosen as the 2008 NYCBL Player of the Year. Onorati helped the Amsterdam Mohawks to a 26-14 regular-season record, a second-place finish in the Eastern Division and a trip to the Eastern Division finals, the franchise’s first since 2005.

Onorati ended the regular season with a league-leading 38 runs scored and 32 runs batted in. He was second in the NYCBL with 20 stolen bases and 77 total bases and he tied for second with seven home runs. The Amsterdam center fielder batted .309 with 46 hits, 10 doubles, 13 walks, a .517 slugging percentage, a .400 on-base percentage and he was hit by a pitch 11 times.

The Williston Park, N.Y., native started 36 of Amsterdam’s 40 games and made 31 starts in center field. He posted 16 multi-hit and 12 multi-RBI efforts. Three times during the regular season, Onorati homered in back-to-back games. He started for the Eastern Division in the NYCBL All-Star Game and played the entire contest in center field. Onorati went 3-for-5 with three RBI and he was awarded the game’s Bob Bellizzi Big Stick award as the offensive MVP.

During the playoffs, Onorati totaled a team-high seven hits for the Mohawks. He batted .333 in five playoff games with two home runs and three RBI.

Onorati is a rising sophomore at Manhattan College. This past spring, Onorati was tabbed second-team All-Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. The Jaspers outfielder finished second in the league with 60 hits and 53 runs scored during the regular season. He was second on the team in home runs (seven), doubles (14), on-base percentage (.454) and fielding percentage (.989).

The Manhattan College product is the first Amsterdam player to receive a major individual award from the NYCBL since Derrick Gordon was named the NYCBL Pitcher of the Year in 2004.