Dawson native Leonard finishes season with Braves' AAA affiliate
Connellsville High School graduate and former University of Pittsburgh baseball standout Joe Leonard is still competing professionally in the Atlanta Braves' organization.
After beginning the 2014 season and playing 36 games with the Mississippi Braves (Class AA) of the Southern League, Leonard was called back to the Gwinnett Braves of the International League.
At Mississippi, he batted .246 (28-for-114) with three doubles, 11 runs scored and seven RBI. He only had one error in 134 chances (109 putouts, 24 assists) in 30 games between first and third base.
For Gwinnett, he played in 41 games and batted .278 (37 for 133) with eight doubles, one triple, two home runs, 13 runs scored and 17 RBI.
He played 22 errorless games at third base with one error in 50 total chances with 16 putouts and 33 assists. At first base he handled 130 chances in 16 games without an error.
Gwinnett finished the 2014 season in second place in the International League's South Division, nine games behind the Durham (N.C.) Bulls.
Leonard played the entire 2013 season in Gwinnett. He batted .230 (96-for-418) with 22 doubles, 3 triples, one stolen base and 35 RBI. He had just 10 errors in 283 chances at third base and no miscues in 119 chances at first base.
A 6-foot-5-inch, 220-pound right-handed third baseman, Leonard received an official at-bat for the Braves during the spring training. He doubled in a 7-6 Grapefruit League victory over the Miami Marlins.
The Braves drafted Leonard in the third round of the 2010 Major League Baseball Draft after he batted .433 for the Panthers with eight saves and being named that year's Big East Conference Player of the Year.
WPIAL OKs budget
The Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League Budget Committee developed and approved a preliminary budget at recent planning meetings.
Following discussion and modification, the WPIAL Board of Control adopted a $1,841,900 operating budget for the year ending June 30, 2015. The operating budget represents a $43,729 increase from the 2013-14 operating budget.
State champs from WPIAL
As the 2014-15 athletic and academic year begins to unfold, the WPIAL will look to produce more than or equal the 16 Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association team champions they won this past year.
Leading the way was girls basketball, which had three state champions: Blackhawk (Class AAA), Seton LaSalle (AA) and Vincentian (A).
Football, boys basketball, and girls and boys soccer achieved two team PIAA titles. Gridiron champs were South Fayette (AA) and Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic (A) while round ball boy titlists included New Castle (AAAA) and Lincoln Park (A). Central Valley (AA) and Greensburg Central Catholic (A) won girls soccer titles, and Upper St. Clair (AAA) and Sewickley Academy (A) won boys soccer state titles.
Other PIAA state champions included North Allegheny girls tennis (AAA), Shady Side Academy boys tennis (AAA), Mars' boys swimming (AA), Franklin Regional wrestling (AAA), and Hempfield girls track and field (AAA).
The two most recent Mid-Mon Valley area high school team championships were Monessen's 2004 PIAA Class A championship girls basketball team and Ringgold High School's 1995 PIAA Class AAAA championship boys basketball team.
PAC turns 60
The Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) is celebrating its 60th anniversary throughout the 2014-15 academic year.
The PAC was formally organized in 1955 by Western Reserve University, John Carroll University, Case Institute of Technology, and Wayne State University. It was built on the basic principle that an athletic program is an integral part of college life, but not an entity in itself.
“Very few athletic conferences in the country can say that they are 60 years old,” said David A. Armstrong, J.D., president of Thomas More (Crestview Heights, Ky.) College and PAC Presidents' Council chair for 2014-15. “With all the changes in conferences today and the super-conferences being created, it is a special thing to be a part of a conference that had been so strong and so steady over six decades.”
Among the 10 select private colleges include local schools Washington & Jefferson College and Waynesburg University. The others are Bethany (W.Va.) College, Chatham University, Geneva College, Grove City College, St. Vincent College, Thiel College, Thomas More College and Westminster College.
In 2011, the PAC Presidents' Council voted to add Carnegie Mellon University and Case Western Reserve (Cleveland) University as affiliate members in the sport of football beginning in 2014.
