Mantas Cernauskas

• Bats Right, Throws Right

• Born March 21, 1981

Biographical Information

Mantas Cernauskas has played for the Lithuanian national team in three decades.

Lithuanian teams stats prior to 2007 are unavailable online as of this writing (Nov. 2025); it is possible he was playing for the team in that period. Cernauskas was the main catcher for Lithuania in the 2008 European Championship Qualifier, hitting .214/.267/.214, throwing out 3 of 7 who tried to steal. In the 2011 European Championship Qualifier, he was for 10 with a walk, run and two RBI.

In the 2015 B-Level European Championship, he batted .188/.278/.188. He was 0 for 6 in the 2021 European Championship Qualifier, playing right with Kestas Vilimas behind the dish. He was excellent in the 2022 European Championship Qualifier, going 2 for 5 with 3 walks, 4 runs and 3 RBI.

At age 43, he was 2 for 2 with a walk in the 2024 European Championship Qualifier, backing up Adomas Aleksandravičius at catcher. Lithuania won to get a spot in the 2025 European Championship, their first European Championship after numerous near-misses over a couple decades. In those 2025 Euros, he split catching with Aleksandravičius and also played some first base. The veteran (not the team's oldest player, though, as Audrius Beliauskas was older) was the first catcher for Lithuania in a European Championship. He hit 9th in their opener against Greece, grounding out against minor league veteran Noah Zavolas his first time up. He was 0-for-6 with a walk, hit-by-pitch and run in four games, fielding .947 and allowing 12 steals in 12 tries. He allowed the most swipes, 3 ahead of Philip Smith.