Listen to the Jaspers MAAC Tournament Games
TRENTON, N.J. ? Senior catcher Dom Lombardi and sophomore outfielder Kevin Nieto were selected to the All-MAAC First Team announced this evening at the conference's annual awards banquet in Trenton, N.J., the site of the 2008 MAAC Baseball Championships. Freshman standouts Chad Salem, Mark Onorati and Dan Forman highlighted the All-MAAC Second Team. The Jaspers kick off the tournament tomorrow with its opening round contest against third seeded Siena at 2 p.m. Manhattan earned a share of the Regular-Season Championship, while posting a 19-5 league mark.
Lombardi, a product of St. Raymond's in the Bronx, was phenomenal over 49 appearances during the regular-season. He was named MAAC Player of the Week twice (March 11 & 25), posted a .354 batting average, and leads the MAAC with a .505 on base percentage. Lombardi moved into the top-10 on the program's career hits chart (189) this season, and ranks fifth all-time on the career triples list (6). Lombardi drove in 37 RBIs, tallied 56 hits, including 13 doubles and scored 47 runs.
Nieto led the Jaspers and ranked third in the MAAC with a .374 batting average. Nieto, a centerfielder from Miami, Fla., started 40 of 41 appearances during the regular-season and was named MAAC Player of the Week on May 12. He led the MAAC and set a Manhattan baseball single season record with six triples. Nieto became the program's all-time triples leader (10) in just his second season in the Jaspers' lineup. He carries 45 RBIs, 55 hits and 49 runs into the 2008 postseason.
Salem had one of most memorable rookie campaigns in school history. He led the Jaspers with nine home runs, tied for first in the MAAC and ranked fourth in the program's single season history with 50 RBIs and tallied 48 hits. Salem was named MAAC Rookie of the Week three times (March 11, April 14, May 12).
Onorati finished the regular-season second in the MAAC with 60 hits, while leading Manhattan with 97 total bases over 48 appearances in the outfield. Onorati was second on the Jaspers' roster with seven home runs, 14 doubles, a .454 on base percentage and .989 fielding percentage. He tied for a team-high and was second in the MAAC scoring 53 runs.
Forman, a freshman from Jamaica, N.Y., led all Manhattan pitchers and tied for second in the league with eight wins. Forman's 79 strikeouts were second best in the MAAC, and led the conference striking out 41 batters looking. Forman was a perfect 7-0 in MAAC contests and finished the regular-season sixth in the league with a 3.79 ERA over 78.1 innings of action.
Manhattan also placed six student-athletes on the 2008 MAAC All-Academic Team. Tom Costigan (So. ? Engineering ? Cold Spring, N.Y.), Mike Gazzola (So. ? Finance ? White Plains, N.Y.), Marc Giordano (Sr. ? Engineering ? Bardonia, N.Y.), Thomas Moran (So. ? Managerial Science ? Farmington, Conn.), Brian Pendergast (So. ? Finance ? Unionville, Conn.) and Andrew Sutherland (So. ? History ? Huntington, N.Y.).
To be eligible for the MAAC All-Academic Team, a student-athlete must complete two semesters at their institution, be a significant starter or reserve and hold a cumulative grade point average of 3.20 on a 4.0 scale.
