ORONO – It’s been quite the trip these past four years for Maine baseball’s Caleb Leys.
“It’s pretty cool to sit back and see how far I’ve come,” Leys says. “A year ago, I wasn’t even able to touch a baseball.”
By next Monday, Leys will be the next Black Bear to have heard his name called in the Major League Baseball draft.
“It’s exciting, definitely a dream come true so far,” he says. “I’m just ready to roll and play at that next level.”
After the final game with Maine in May, Leys has had all eyes on the pros- including a trip to Delaware for training and an invite to the MLB Draft Combine.
Leys was a three-sport athlete from Middletown, Rhode Island when he came to Orono freshman year and cemented his spot in the weekend rotation, getting named to the America East All-Rookie team along the way.
“I think we had a good group of friends in my class,” Leys says. “Ever since the fall of freshman year, we really pushed each other and we helped each other out as best as we could. I think it was just that competitive nature in us- we really pushed each other when we didn’t really know what was happening.”
His sophomore season, he helped Maine to their first NCAA Tournament appearance in years- and that’s when he started catching some eyes.
“The thinking about the draft stuff happened sophomore year and definitely going into the fall of junior year,” he says. “I knew they were watching, I knew they were around, so I just knew if I gave it my all every outing that anything could happen.”
Then came his bump in the road- gearing up for what could have been his final year at Maine, an injury to his throwing arm left him sidelined for the entire season.
“I just really think that being able to control what I could control was the most important thing for me,” Leys says. “Really going after that recovery the first six months- it was every day of the week seven days a week for six months. I think that was really important coming back from a major injury.”
And Leys came back better than ever. After a redshirt year, Caleb dominated the conference, posting league-leading numbers and winning the America East Pitcher of the Year Award. So while one year ago this summer, he was getting rehab underway- fast-forward 365 days and he’s getting ready to live out every young baseball player’s dream.
“I think this month was actually the first time I started throwing- coming back from rehab,” Leys says. “So, it’s definitely cool to see how all the hard work has finally started to pay off, and I’m excited for the weekend.”