Joe Leonard Named NCBWA District 1 Player of the Year
6/11/2010 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
June 11, 2010
PITTSBURGH - Pitt junior third baseman/relief pitcher Joe Leonard has been named the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association District 1 Player of the Year, announced the organization on Friday.
Leonard (Dawson, Pa./Connellsville) joins eight other honorees as some of the top players in the nation. District 1 consists of Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania.
In addition to his NCBWA honor, Leonard was recently named as a semifinalist for the John Olerud Two-Way Player of the Year Award and has been named as a Ping! Baseball Third Team All-American as both a utility fielder and pitcher.
In addition, Leonard was awarded TPX Louisville Slugger Third-Team All-America honors and was drafted in the third round by the Atlanta Braves on Tuesday.
Leonard became Pitt's highest draft pick since 1985, when Chris Jelic was drafted in the second round by the Kansas City Royals. In 2010, he was named the Big East Player of the Year and has also been named as a semifinalist for the Dick Howser Trophy, which honors the top player in all of college baseball.
As a third baseman and relief pitcher, Leonard leaves Pitt with his name dominating the record books, breaking the single-season records for hits (104), runs batted in (71), doubles (23) at bats (240) and saves (8) in 2010. In addition, he also holds the school record for career saves with 11.