Charleston Battery midfielder Osvaldo Alonso has been named the USL First Division Rookie of the Year as voted by the league coaches and GM’s; he is the first Battery player to win this award.  Alonso enjoyed a stellar campaign with the Battery in 2008 and was an instrumental figure in Charleston’s run to the US Open Cup final and the 2008 USL1 playoffs.  Alonso scored seven goals and added two assists in 31 games played.

Alonso cemented his role in the Battery’s starting line-up after impressive performances during the pre-season Carolina Challenge Cup. In addition to his seven goals he also converted penalties in the U.S. Open Cup penalty shoot-out wins versus the Houston Dynamo (Third Round) and the Seattle Sounders (Semifinal).

Alonso was a key-figure in the Battery’s historic run to the US Open Cup Final and played the full 90 minutes in the 2-1 loss to DC united at RFK Stadium.  Following the Cup final Alonso missed several games through injury but returned for the USL1 playoffs and scored Charleston’s lone goal in the 2-1 first round aggregate score loss to the Rochester Rhinos.

Alonso defected from the Cuban national team in July 2007 during the Gold Cup; a native of San Cristóbal, Cuba, Alonso is the former captain of the Cuban Olympic team; he has been capped 17 times for the full Cuban national team and scored 2 goals.

Alonso captured several Charleston Battery awards at the end of the regular season; he was named Charleston Battery MVP & Newcomer of the year (as voted by the Charleston Battery fans), he was also named Charleston Battery Players’ Player of the Year (as voted by the Charleston Battery players).

United Soccer Leagues announced all four of the league’s top honors for the 2008 USL First Division season Saturday.  In addition to Osvaldo Alonso being named Rookie of the Year, three Puerto Rico Islanders received top honors with Colin Clarke named Coach of the Year, Cristian Arrieta, Defender of the Year and Jonathan Steele, Most Valuable Player.