Joe Leonard Named ABCA/Rawlings All-American
6/23/2010 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
June 23, 2010
PITTSBURGH - Former Pitt third baseman/relief pitcher Joe Leonard has been named to the ABCA/Rawlings All-America second team, adding to his lengthy list of accolades. Most recently, Leonard (Dawson, Pa./Connellsville) was named to the ABCA/Rawlings All-East Region first team and the All-ECAC first team.
Leonard has also been named as the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association District 1 Player of the Year, 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 June 8.
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.