Lehigh University Athletics
Lehigh's McBride lighting it up
5/5/2006 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Schneider, now with the Washington Nationals, was drafted in 1995 by the Montreal Expos and is one of the best defensive catchers in the majors.
In a month, area baseball junkies will likely be able to start following the pro career of another Lehigh Valley-bred catcher.
''We're talking about the top five rounds,'' Mountain Hawks coach Sean Leary said. ''It's not a matter of interest, it's a matter of how early he'll go at this point.''
That's because McBride has so many tools, and he's used them to help Lehigh earn its first ever No. 1 seed in next weekend's Patriot League tournament in
McBride is the league leader in many offensive statistical categories, including home runs (10), RBIs (51, just two shy of tying the school and conference single-season record), batting average (.425), on-base percentage (.472), slugging percentage (.667) and hits (79, which is a school single-season record).
''The awards don't come out until next week, but I would certainly imagine he's the leading candidate to be the player of year,'' Leary said.
Even with all those eye-popping offensive statistics, what McBride does with his bat isn't hit best attribute.
It's his defense. He's thrown out 15 of the 42 runners attempting to steal (35.7 percent). And he's made just three errors for a .990 fielding percent.
''His offensive skills elevate his status for scouts, but his catch-and-throw got him on the radar,'' Leary said. ''His defense is his No. 1 skill.''
But his unselfishness isn't far behind. It's nearly impossible to get him to say anything with even a hint of cockiness.
And he doesn't play that way either. When McBride had 70 hits and needed just one to eclipse the school record, he legged out a bunt for a single to break the mark.
''When a kid has an average like that, they think they should be swinging,'' Leary said. ''But he doesn't think anything of bunting. He's probably our best bunter. There were 10 scouts there that day and I think they would have rather seen him swing, but then they see that and think, 'Wow. There's a pretty team-oriented kid.'''
So team-oriented that he'd rather keep talk about the draft to a minimum. He admitted that he's had contact with lots of scouts and scouting directors, but he didn't want to give a number. He admitted that it's been fun dealing with scouts, but that's not what's most on his mind right now.
McBride, who has 20 stolen bases, is totally focused on winning the Patriot League tournament, a place the Mountain Hawks have been five years in a row, but something they've never won.
''It's definitely an exciting time, but I'm really focused on what's happening now with Lehigh and trying to win the Patriot League,'' he said. ''That's the most important thing right now. We've worked really hard all year for this.''
If McBride, who's just 25 credits shy of earning a political science degree, gets drafted next month, he said he's probably going to leave Lehigh and go into the pros. It's something he's dreamed about since he first picked up a glove.
''I worked my whole life, but I always had fun doing it,'' he said. ''I always saw baseball as something I would never give up. I'm definitely really excited it's going to happen.''
This story originally appeared in the Friday, May 5, 2006 edition of The Morning Call. Used with permission.
