Diary Of A Lakeland Player: Jonathan de Marte

Jonathan de Marte, who is bound for Division I Richmond, is a pitcher for the Lakeland baseball squad. The junior hurler this spring earned the Gatorade New York State Player Of The Year Award.

He finished the season with a 11-2 record, two saves, a 0.93 ERA, 105 strikeouts, 17 walks, seven complete games and three shutouts.

One of de Marte's wins was a 4-1 triumph in the Section 1 Class A championship game against Harrison, which was the 600th career victory for Lakeland coaches Dennis and Mike Robinson.

Offensively, de Marte was equally as lethal as he hit for a .466 average, drove in 32 runs, stole 12 bases and hit four homers.

I believe we were as successful as we were this season because of our team chemistry. We are all good friends and we wanted nothing less than to win.

Our hard work and repetition taking ground balls and fly balls at practice really helped out the defense. We were able to advance so far because of our consistency on the mound, clutch hitting and good defense (especially up the middle).

Eric Giancola's full extension diving catch in the Maine Endwell game was a huge game saver and actually kept our season going. It was the greatest defensive play of the year.

By reaching the state semifinals, we proved ourselves to be one of the greatest baseball teams ever from Lakeland. It's a season no one will ever forget and one that will be spoken about for a while.

Now we just need to work twice as hard so we reach the same point again next year with a chance to go for a state championship. By winning the Section 1 final and getting Coach Den his 600th win on the same day means a lot to us and our coaches.

It was a monumental season and to have accomplished that milestone for him just makes it even better. Coach Den's ability as a pitching coach is great and the numbers we had on the mound wouldn't have come without him and his assistance.

Teaching us how to play the outfield at practice really helped us out throughout the season. Coach Mike's knowledge of hitting is amazing. Whenever someone is having trouble batting, he's there to help and fix the mistake.

Coach Mike is also our infield coach and he does a great job with ground balls which I believe was a key factor in getting our defense strong. The players always listen in when Coach Den and Coach Mike talk about the game so we can learn from their knowledge and experience.

Their ability to talk to us as friends and bond with us really helps out and makes us feel more comfortable as players. 
Being named the Gatorade Player of the Year for New York meant a lot to me. It showed me how all the hard work throughout my life has really paid off.

It is not something that I should keep thinking about though because I don't want it to make my head swell up. It's an amazing accomplishment that I'm proud to have, but I just need to keep working even harder so I can improve myself for next year and for the next level of baseball.

As a team, we expect to make it just as far next year, win the state semifinal game and advance to the finals. It's going to take the same amount of hard work and long, tiring hours to make it that far.

I believe we will be up for the challenge again. We will add Joey Arena's arm back in the rotation and along with Nick Caruso and others we should be solid on the mound.

Providing the assistance on the hill will be Mike Nash and James Kim. Dom Priore played some second base this year and we will have his bat along with Zack Lenane's in the lineup next year. With David Judisky we will have another strong middle of the order next year.

I will be playing my summer ball with the Taconic Rangers team led by Coach Bob Fletcher. Coach Fletcher is a great coach and really knows what he is doing.

He has helped many athletes advance from high school ball to college ball. With all his college connections and his incredible efforts, he has opened doors for numerous kids over the years.

We will be playing in Georgia for two weeks. Then it's off to North Carolina, Boston and Syracuse and a few local tournaments on Long Island and in New Jersey.

Playing summer ball means a lot and you can really improve your skills. It's also the place where most athletes are seen by college coaches, recruiters and scouts.

At all of our games there are always some college scouts and sometimes even pro scouts attend. Exciting times are ahead.