Lakeland’s de Marte gets another honor

Just when you think Lakeland senior Jonathan de Marte couldn't win any more awards, he comes up with another.

In a phone call from his coach Dennis Robinson, the Hornets pitcher/outfielder found out that he was a recipient of the Louisville Slugger State High School Player of the Year Award. The award is given to one player in 47 states plus Washington, DC.

Award winners receive specially engraved black and silver Louisville Slugger bats noting their achievement. Their respective schools will get a replica for their school trophy cases.

"Once again, we are proud to join Louisville Slugger in honoring these fine young baseball players from all across the United States," Baseball Coaches Association Executive Director Ron Davini said. "These players have been selected by coaches in their jurisdictions as the best player in their respective states. We're certain we'll be hearing more about these players in years to come, at both the collegiate and professional levels as their careers develop."

Louisville Slugger initiated its State High School Player of the Year Award in 2004 as part of its 120th anniversary. For de Marte, who will attend the University of Richmond in the fall of '11 and play baseball there, this is the second state player of the year award he has won as he also was named the best player in New York by Gatorade.

Along with those two honors, he also earned all-state, all-section and all-league honors in addition to being named the MVP of the Section 1 championship game. For the season, de Marte had a .466 batting average, drove in 32 runs and blasted four homers; and on the mound, he was 11-2, two saves, a 0.93 ERA, 105 strikeouts and 17 walks.

"It felt good to win the Louisville Slugger Award," de Marte said. "It was another good honor that I have been fortunate to receive."

Winning the award is another example that all the effort that de Marte has put into making himself a better player has turned out to be worthwhile.

"It means a lot to win it because it shows that all my hard work and dedication to the game has paid off," de Marte said.

Winning all the awards that he has won is something that wasn't in the forefront of de Marte's mind before the Hornets' season started, a season that saw Lakeland make the Class A state final four.

"I wasn't really thinking about winning those awards," de Marte said. "I was just thinking about what I could do to help the team. Those things are in the back of your mind but the first thing is winning sectionals and then trying to get farther than that."

The Lakeland senior is planning on participating at the University of Richmond's showcase camp in September, then playing with Bob Fletcher's Taconic Rangers in the fall. He is also planning to take part in the World Wood Bat Association Championship in Jupiter, Fla. Oct. 21-25 for Marucci Elite whose team includes players from Louisiana, Alabama, Texas and Florida.

"Those things are important but playing on those teams isn't enough, you also have to do things on your own on the side as well to get better," de Marte said. "But it is important to play in those events because you have a lot of people coming in and watching you. One person sees you they tell another person about you and the word gets out."