New York: A rising baseball player Kumar Nambiar from Westchester county will be the first Indian-American student athlete to be honored as the "New York State Player of the Year," media reported on Saturday.

Nambiar, a 2015 graduate of Mamaroneck High School, will be felicitated on Sunday during the 16th annual Heritage of India Festival at Kensico Dam Plaza County Park, Daily Voice newspaper quoted the event organizers as saying.

The Indian American Cultural Association of Westchester (IACAW), that serves the Indian community of Westchester County, will organize the event.

Playing as a pitcher — the player who delivers the ball to the batsman – Nambiar was a key player who helped his team, Mamaroneck High Tigers, win the Section 1 Class AA State Championship in May, the report said.

Nambiar will be pitching for Yale University next season.

"Baseball stardom is considered rare among Asian Indians. Nambiar might even be the first Indian-American named a state high school baseball Player of the Year anywhere in the US," Sid Mehta, volunteer broadcaster for Bedford Central School District TV and Fox Lane Foxes varsity sports, said.

Few Indian-Americans across the country play baseball beyond Little League.

Hardly any of them become the ace of their pitching staff as Nambiar has or named the most valuable player (MVP) of the varsity team, the report added.

"Nambiar is a true trail-blazer in the Indian-American community here in the Westchester county," Mehta added.

(IANS)