By By BRIAN HAINES, Brian@wdnweb.com, Sports Writer
WILLIAMSTON — The first baseball signing in Riverside history took place on Thursday as Christian Leggett agreed to play baseball for the College of Albemarle.
Leggett, who was the third baseman on the Washington Daily News All-Area Baseball team, batted .386 on the season with two home runs and 24 RBIs for what was formerly called Williamston High School.
Williamston merged with Jamesville High School this summer to form the Riverside Knights, and Leggett became the first Knight to be awarded a baseball scholarship when he signed a National Letter of Intent to play for the junior college on Thursday.
“It feels good to be one of the first ones,” Leggett said. “Especially because we have a thing in the baseball room that shows everybody who has signed and I guess I’ll be the first one.”
Leggett, who had interest from various other schools, said that the College of Albemarle was the perfect fit.
“I was pretty excited to be able to play college baseball … I picked College of Albemarle because it was close to home and I really like the coach (Norbie Wilson), Leggett said. “I feel like I have a good chance to play as a freshman.”
The College of Albemarle is heading into its second season of baseball after taking a decades long layoff. Leggett said it would mean a lot to him to be able to be a part of the team’s foundation.
“It would be great to be able to go there and help build a tradition at the College of Albemarle,” Leggett said.
Wilson, whose Dolphins went 22-21 last year, said that word of mouth, coupled with Leggett’s play in the state games, made the Riverside slugger an attractive recruit.
“Hank Tice called me and told me that the kid was a good player and that’s all it took,” said Wilson, who is former part time scout for the Washington Nationals. “Hank is a man who is a very credible man in baseball and he is not going to call you and tell you that somebody is better than what they are.”
Tice said that Leggett has put in plenty of hard work throughout the years and that he was proud to see it pay off for him.
“It’s well deserved,” Tice said. “Christian is a heck of a player for us and we are expecting a lot out of Christian this year. I think it’s good for our program. … Congrats to him and his family. Now he has to go out there and work and prepare like a future college player and I know he will.”
Under Tice last season Leggett batted in the coveted third spot in the order and Tice said that is because he hits well in all situations.
“Christian is a guy who you want at the plate in any situation but especially with runners in scoring position,” Tice said. “From the time he was six-years old the kid could hit, he could hit his whole life.”
Tice said Leggett’s challenge this year will be to become more of a well-rounded baseball player by working on his arm strength and defense. The hard-hitting senior said he will do everything he can to be a versatile player and that his biggest goal this year is to graduate Riverside with a state championship.