2012

I 7 ·'' ) U .' JL WEEK OF .I~ I(. ':)I/_ I

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ECCC's Leal drafted by Pirates

By Jamie Wachter .....h

!" '' t. idianstar com If Neal Holliman had his choice, he would gladly keep Carlos Leal at East Cen– tral Community College forever. He won't get that chance, though, as Leal. who has signed to play at Delta State, was also dralted Wednesday in the 33rd round of the Major League Baseball First– Year Player Draft by Pittsburgh. ~1 heard !'Omconc say this the other day and it really applie to Carlos, 'It's really nice when your bt-st players are your best people with the best work ethic,'" Holliman said. "He's just one of those guys that you can't say ('nough good things about. He was a phenomenal leader, his work ethic was off the charts. He was good in the classroom. You don't get a chance to coach guys like that evf'ry day.'' And that hard work paid off. Entering ·the ECCC program undrafted out of Puerto Rico, Leal hit .321 this past season with four

Paula Merritt/The Meridiall Still' East Central Community Central catcher Carlos Leal looks a Jones County Jul"ior College runner back to base after hauling 1n a popup earlur thts year. Leal was drafted Wednesday n ~he 33 'd round of the Major League Baseball First-Ye:'r Player Draft by P·ttsburgh.

home runs, six doubles and 27 RBis. TI1at success at the plate came as the n•sult of a work ethic that even wore down Holliman at timt·s. · ''He got into the program and he See LEAton page B2 LEAL from pa.uge-=-B--=-J _______

workt•d," he said. "It's not like we lifted the magic wand over his head. He worked. He graduated from school aftt'r the fall and was just taking enough classes to satisfy eligibility requirements. So he would be ('alling me every day at 10 a.m. asking me if we couJd go hit. Coach, can we go hil I was like, 'Well dang Carlos, I need to do a little work in the office some– time.' "You see guys who get drafted because they are great athletes but don't have the best work ethic but you don't exactly desire to have froma attitude stand– point, but he's Grade A, deser ves everything that comes to him." But Leal's biggest impact came on the defensive end. om piling a .929 fielding percentage behind the plate, Leal completely silenced opponents' running games. "He just shut down the running game," Holliman said. "He didn't throw out many guys. His percentage was unbelievable, but nobody would run on him. Out of respect, theywouJdn't even try. He shut down the running game,.but realistically he didn't have to do much." That impact was noticed as well. The 6-foot, 190- poundcrwas a first-team MACJC All-State selection and was also namedAll-Region 23, where he was a unanimous choice on a team that featured one catcher. L Leal is the four th player in four years drafted out of ECCC and is the second local prospect drafted by Pitjsburgh this year, as the Pirates took Meridian Community College freshman outfielderJohnathan Youngblood in the 15th roundTuesday.

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