Tabor outfielder Manny DeLeon named NAIA Player of the Year

Tabor outfielder Manny DeLeon wasn’t sure what his future held last fall, compliments of a nagging elbow injury.

He didn’t get much of a chance to feel sorry for himself.

“(Tabor coach) Mark Standiford kept me positive throughout,” DeLeon said. “Thank God he was there for me and got me on the right path.”

That path led DeLeon, a senior, to being named the NAIA Player of the Year on Tuesday — the first player in KCAC history to receive the baseball honor.

“My teammates kept telling me I could get it, but I didn’t believe them,” DeLeon said.

DeLeon (6-foot, 180 pounds) is from San Cristobal, Dominican Republic, and transferred to Tabor from Iowa Lakes Community College.

This season, he led the NAIA in total bases (208), RBIs (108) and slugging percentage (.897). He led Tabor with a .440 batting average, 25 home runs, 25 doubles and 24 stolen bases as the Bluejays won at least a share of their fifth straight KCAC regular-season title.

Kansas Wesleyan first baseman Peyton Deiters was also named an All-American.

“It’s the culmination of all the hard work and extra work he put in and the type of hitter he is,” Standiford said of DeLeon. “It’s big for our program to say we’ve had a national player of the year. We’re very proud, no doubt.”

DeLeon said he’s talked with several professional scouts ahead of this week’s major-league draft.

“Hopefully I get a chance,” DeLeon said. “That’s all I need.”

This story was originally published June 7, 2016 at 3:41 PM with the headline "Tabor outfielder Manny DeLeon named NAIA Player of the Year."