By Paul Gotham
ROCHESTER, NY – In a summer where he posted staggering numbers, it was only fitting that Scott DeJong (Felician) notched one more.
The Wellsville Nitro first baseman received 12 of 19 first-place votes to claim in a landslide the 2013 New York Collegiate Baseball League Player of the Year.
DeJong set a new standard for home runs and led the NYCBL in RBI and runs scored.
“It’s an honor,” DeJong said about the award. “The history of the league is really strong. When you look at the guys who have come through the league like Tim Hudson and Hunter Pence, it makes it special.”
DeJong established a single-season record with 14 home runs. The 6-4 first baseman led the way with 46 RBI and 47 runs scored. He also showed his all-around play stealing 14 bases, a mark which tied him for seventh in the league.
“He wasn’t just a power guy,” said Wellsville head coach, Anthony Barone. “He was a diversified player.”
After a two-year absence from the playoffs, the Nitros finished 22-18 good for third place in the NYCBL.
“To bounce back for the community and get the faith back in the Nitros for Wellsville was important,” DeJong added.
Wellsville hosted a first-round game with the Syracuse Salt Cats and advanced with a 4-0 victory before falling in the semi-finals to Hornell.
DeJong paced the Nitros hitting .310 with 23 extra-base hits on the season. He earned 20 base on balls and compiled an OPS of 1.037.
“His maturity was unbelievable,” Barone commented. “To find that in a 19-year-old kid is tough. Scott was a leader right away. I knew he was going to be very successful because of that maturity. He worked just as hard on day one as on day sixty. He was unbelievably consistent. That’s tough find sometimes from a power guy. They’ll go in slumps and stuff like that. One thing he did well this summer was he used all aspects of his game.”
DeJong’s success came after a spring season in which he struggled. After redshirting his freshman year at UConn, the North Haledon, NJ native transferred to Felician for the 2013 campaign.
“I had something to prove,” DeJong noted. “I really took that to heart when I took the field at Wellsville this summer. I proved it to myself that I can play at that level.”
After spending the spring putting pressure on himself to perform, DeJong relaxed for the summer. Though a power hitter, Barone inserted him in the leadoff spot, and the results showed.
“I learned to have fun playing baseball this summer.”
Cristian Fiorito (Syracuse Salt Cats/Concordia) earned four first-place votes. Carlos Guzman (Syracuse Salt Cats/Molloy), Brian Kraft (Oneonta/Grand Canyon) and Aaron Pigna (Syracuse Jr. Chiefs/Ave Maria) each received one top tally.
College teammate, Aaron Brill, joined DeJong and Alec Bahnick (Bellarmine) and represented Wellsville on the First Team All-League.
NYCBL champion, Oneonta also placed three on the First Team All-League with Kraft accompanying Pitcher of the Year Luke Crumley (University of Georgia) and Reliever of the Year Corey Kafka (Mercer University).
League runner-up Hornell also had three first teamers: Dylan Dunn (Hagerstown CC), Chris Jansen (St. Joseph’s – Indiana) and Anthony Renz (Mansfield).
For a complete list of the 2013 First and Second Team All-League click here.
Player of the Year votes:
Scott DeJong (12) 204
Cristian Fiorito (4) 136
Aaron Pigna (1) 116
Carlos Guzman (1) 99
Brian Kraft (1) 84
Others receiving votes (players appear by number of votes accumulated):
Shane Barley (Wellsville/St. John Fisher), Jake Levine (Oneonta/Brown), Anthony Renz (Hornell/Mansfield), Aaron Haag (Hornell/Hagerstown CC), Alex Caruso (Syracuse Jr. Chiefs/St. John’s), Ka’ai Tom (Sherrill/Fort Scott CC), Kirby Campbell (Geneva Twins/Arkansas-Pine Bluff), Perry Rigby (Niagara/Covenant), Tyler Lau (Wellsville/Illinois-Springfield), Dan Iturrey (Geneva Twins/Emory), Nick Wolyniec (Rochester/Siena), Mike Bunal (Sherrill/Binghamton), Mike Fahrman (Olean/University of Florida), Aaron Brill (Wellsville/Felician), Nick Oddo (Rochester/Cal St. San Bernadino), Andrew Gronski (Geneva Red Wings/Case Western Reserve), Stanley Susana (Syracuse Jr. Chiefs/St. Thomas Aquinas), Lee Grosscup (Olean/Mt. Union) and Ben Pickard (Niagara/Delta State).
The NYCBL is part of the National Alliance of College Summer Baseball (NACSB) which oversees the rules and policies of ten different summer leagues: the Atlantic Collegiate Baseball League, Cape Cod Baseball League, Cal Ripken Collegiate Baseball League, Florida Collegiate Summer League, Great Lakes Collegiate Summer League, New England Collegiate Baseball League, Southern Collegiate Baseball League, Sunbelt Baseball League, and the Valley League Baseball.
These ten leagues provide a variety of competition levels that help prepare young players for life in professional baseball. One in every six Major League players has spent at least one summer playing in the Cape Cod League.
Current major league players Tim Hudson, Hunter Pence and Rajai Davis all spent a summer in the NYCBL. In all, more than 100 NYCBL alums dot rosters in Major and Minor League Baseball.
The NYCBL, sending players to the pros since 1978.
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