User:PGPirate/Keith LeClair
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| Keith LeClair | ||
|---|---|---|
| Title | Head Coach | |
| College | East Carolina University | |
| Sport | College baseball | |
| Conference | Conference USA Colonial Athletic Association |
|
| Born | February 28, 1966 | |
| Place of birth | Walpole, New Hampshire | |
| Died | July 18, 2006 | |
| Place of death | Greenville, North Carolina | |
| Career highlights | ||
| Overall | 212-96-1 at East Carolina 229-135-2 at Western Carolina |
|
| Championships | ||
| 2002 Conference USA Tournament Champion 2001 Wilson Regional Champions 2000 CAA Tournament Champion 1999 CAA Tournament Champion |
||
| Awards | ||
| CAA Coach of the Year - 1999, 2001 ABCA East Region Coach of the Year - 1999, 2001 Conference USA Student Athlete Advisory Committee’s Coaches Choice Award |
||
| Playing career | ||
| 1985-1988 | Western Carolina University | |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | ||
| 1998-2002 1989-1997 |
East Carolina University Western Carolina University |
|
Keith LeClair (February 28, 1966 - July 18, 2006) was a former NCAA baseball head coach of the East Carolina Pirates baseball team. He previously the head coach for the Western Carolina Catamounts baseball team. While at ECU, he was named the Colonial Athletic Association Coach of the Year in 1999 and 2001, and led the Pirates to four NCAA Regional appearances, one Super Regional appearance and a Conference USA Tournament championship.
LeClair was born in Walpole, New Hampshire, graduating from Fall Mountain Regional High School in 1984. He went to Western Carolina University as a walk-on baseball player. He died on July 18, 2006 from ALS in Greenville, North Carolina. Remaining is his wife Lynn, and children, J.D. and Audrey.
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[edit] Playing experiance
LeClair came to Western in 1985 and walked on to the baseball team. He played outfield for the team. By 1988, he was named MVP of the Southern Conference Tournament, as well as being a first team All-SoCon South selection. LeClair 101 hits lead the league that season, and is seventh best. Also in that year, LeClair had a .423 batting average. That batting average was the second highest of the season, and 29th best ever. He got on base 179 times during 1988, which was the best for the conference until 1996, when Tommy Peterman, of Georgia Southern got on base 187 times.
He helped lead the Catamounts to four consecutive Southern Conference Championships.
[edit] Western Carolina University
1989, after spending spring training with the San Francisco Giants organization, he returned to Cullowhee as an assistant coach on Jack Leggett's Catamount staff, a position he held for three seasons.
In 1992, when Leggett left to become assistant head coach at Clemson, LeClair became the Catamounts' head coach at the age of 25, making him one of, if not the, youngest head coaches in the nation. During that 1992 season, he led the Catamounts to the Southern Conference regular season and tournament championships. The team advanced to the NCAA tournament, reaching the championship game at the South II Regional and getting to within one out of advancing to the College World Series. The 1992 team tallied 44 wins and a final national ranking on 17th. His 1994 team posted a school-record 45 wins and earned the school's first ever, at-large bid to the NCAA postseason. In his six seasons at Western Carolina he posted a record of 229-135-2, led WCU to four NCAA Tournament berths and was SoCon Coach of the Year in 1992, '94 and '97.
[edit] East Carolina University
LeClair came to East Carolina in 1997 replacing Gary Overton. LeClair took the Diamond Bucs to two straight Colonial Athletic Association Tournament Champions in 1999 and 2000. In 2001, the team made it to the postseason, winning the Wilson Regional. The team continued to the NCAA Super Regionals and finished with a No. 11 national ranking with a 47-13 record. In the first CUSA Tournament, ECU won it in 2002. LeClair is currently the second-winningest baseball coach in school history, compiling a 212-96-1 (.688) record.
four straight NCAA Regional appearances three Colonial Athletic Association championships - missing one
He won the American Baseball Coaches Association's East Region Coach-of-the-Year award in both 1999 and 2001.
LeClair officially relinquished his coaching duties at East Carolina on June 19, 2002, two weeks after leading the Pirates to their fourth consecutive NCAA Regional appearance before finishing with a 43-20-1 record. LeClair remained with the ECU Department of Athletics as a special assistant to the director of athletics until the time of his death.
[edit] Postmortem legacy
[edit] Clark-LeClair Stadium
The baseball stadium at East Carolina is part named for Coach LeClair. Bill Clark, a real estate developer, donated 1.5 million to the construction of the ballpark. Coach LeClair's vision for the ballpark is to be able to host postseason NCAA tournaments and help ECU reach its goal of playing in the NCAA College World Series, in Omaha, Nebraska. The Clark-LeClair Stadium held its opening ceramonies March 4, 2005, when ECU played again Michigan. The dedication ceremony occured on April 8, 2005 against Southern Miss The ballpark replaced Harrington Field, located on the same grounds. The playing surface composed of Bermuda turf while the infield will be a clay base and the warning track will be consisted of crushed brick. The dimensions of the outfield, from left-to-right are 320-390-320. The stadium has a capacity of 3,000, plus 2,000 more fans in the outfield; also known as The Jungle. On March 3, 2007, CLS and the State of North Carolina recorded its highest attended college baseball game ever. 5,523 fans went to watch ECU play interstate rival NCSU.
[edit] Keith LeClair Coach of the Year
Conference USA named their Baseball Coach of the Year award Keith LeClair Coach of the Year on
[edit] Keith LeClair Classic
[edit] #23 jersey
[edit] Personal life
father and mother, Andy and Doris LeClair, of Walpole, NH.
- 23 jersey
http://catamountsports.cstv.com/sports/m-basebl/spec-rel/071706aaa.html
