LeClair Looks Forward To 'New Chapter In My Life' At Stonehill

FOXBORO, Ma. - Ryan LeClair helped Foxboro High School to the state semifinals for the first time in school history this past season. Now the senior is hoping to help bring success to Stonehill College as it jumps up to play in Division I.

“I’m an energy player,” the 5-10 160-pounder said about what he feels he can provide the program which begins play in the Northeast Conference for the first time this season. “My excitement and love for the game I feel I will really bring that out for the team. And I’ll definitely bring out my ability at shortstop.”

The Foxboro senior credited his summer program, GBG Northeast, with playing a big role in finding a college home.

“They did a lot to help me,” noted LeClair. “They reached out to (Stonehill head) coach (Pat) Boen and he came and saw me at an event. We scheduled a visit in late August and I loved the campus. I think he’s a great coach and he liked what he saw in me. They needed a shortstop and he offered on the visit. I committed a couple of weeks after.”

Merrimack and Endicott were other schools under consideration before Stonehill jumped to the top of the list in the mind of LeClair.

“It’s really a good fit,” LeClair said. “On the visit it was all about finding what’s right for me and I felt that was the right place.”

The opportunity to play at a university making the move to Division I was also intriguing for LeClair, who last high school season hit a game-tying home run in the bottom of the seventh inning to ignite Foxboro to a first-round win on a tournament trail that eventually reached the state semifinals.

“It will be cool to experience that,” LeClair said of being on a team beginning D-I play. “I know college baseball is hard at any level and I’ll have to adjust from high school to the good pitching I’ll see there.”

Stonehill believes that LeClair is up to the challenge.

“They like my athleticism and the way I move around on the field,” LeClair noted. “They like my approach at the plate and they like my swing.”

LeClair, who plays short on his high school team while rotating from middle infielder to third base in the summer, initially began thinking about college baseball a year ago.

“I was really improving and saw kids on GBG committing,” LeClair reflected. “That was a dream I had when I was younger and I wanted to follow them. After my junior season when the summer season came around I really believed I could do it.

“Junior year was really a big year for me,” LeClair added. “One of my GMG coaches said he believed in me and thought I was a very good player and that hit me. It really made me work harder and become even more dedicated.”

GBG coaches Chris Sullivan, Chris Welch, Zach Brown and Sean Callahan are all credited by LeClair with playing a major role in making his quest to play college baseball become a reality, along with his parents and high school head coach Derek Suess.

“They all helped me through it,” the 17-year-old pointed out. “I did a couple of PBR events my freshman, sophomore and junior years and that helped, but a lot of it came from GBG and their ability to get coaches to my games.”

Admittedly, making a determination on which college to attend was not easy.

“Making that final decision was the most stressful part,” LeClair said. “That’s where you’re going to be for four years. When I finally made the decision it was stress relieving. It felt great to be done with it and know where I was going and not have that stress my senior year. It really felt good for me and my family.”

Finance is the planned major for LeClair, a 3.3 student at Foxboro who is happy to be going to school just a half hour from home.

“I didn’t really want to be close to home but when I was visiting Stonehill I started thinking that it would be nice to be that close when I wanted to go home,” LeClair said.

Now LeClair looks forward to his final season on the ball field at Foxboro and then his move to college and the chance to compete at the D-I level.

“I want to win on any team I’m playing on and I’m hoping to be able to do that,” LeClair concluded. “I can’t wait to meet new people that will be friends forever. This is going to be a new chapter in my life.”