From the first game to the last, Nick Morabito swung a hot and productive bat, and that performance by season’s end earned the senior high-school baseball player from McLean a significant award.
The Gonzaga College High School shortstop/outfielder received the Gatorade District of Columbia Baseball Player of the Year honor for the 2022 spring high-school season. The award recognizes outstanding athletic excellence, in addition to the high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character demonstrated on and off the field.
Morabito is now a finalist for the Gatorade National Baseball Player award, to be announced in coming days.
With his offensive production, the 5-foot-11, 195-pound Morabito led Gonzaga to the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference and District of Columbia tournament championships.
Morabito batted .545 with 12 home runs, 10 doubles and six triples this past season. The WCAC co-Player of the Year walked 29 times, stole 52 bases and compiled a .644 on-base percentage.
“I have seen him play a lot, and Nick is one of the best hitters I have ever seen in high-school baseball,” Bishop O’Connell High School head baseball coach Kyle Padgett said. “He had some big games against us. His in-game speed was about as good as I’ve seen, he played an outstanding center field and was a terror on the base paths.”
Morabito helped Gonzaga finish with a 23-12 overall record, including a 9-2 mark in the playoffs.
A one-time McLean Little League player, Morabitio was especially productive in those postseason contests. He batted .500 with two home runs, two triples, three doubles, stole 11 bases, walked 10 times, drove in seven runs and scored 12. He also had one sacrifice fly.
Morabito only went hitless in one of those nine games.
The player has signed a national letter of intent to play Division I college baseball at Virginia Tech, and is projected as an early-round selection in the Major League baseball draft next month.
Morabito has volunteered locally with the Father McKenna Center food drive. He has also donated his time with the Share Food Network and as a youth baseball coach and mentor.
Morabito’s younger brother, Chris, was a starting second baseman for the McLean High School baseball team this past season. Those teams met early during the 2022 campaign at McLean. Gonzaga won, 4-3, as Nick Morabito homered in the game, stole two bases and drove in three runs.