Leopard Goes Mobile

With high school baseball players, finding a two or a four-year college to attend is sometimes done by means other than luck.

In the case of Hernando High baseball player Andrew McNeal, his chance to play college baseball came about by going to a tryout.

It was at a tryout that McNeal met a college baseball scout who told him about a tryout being held by Bishop State Community College in Mobile, Ala.

So when McNeal and Hernando teammate Dustin Pugh went to the tryout and impressed the Bishop State coaches, that finally brought about the recent signing party at the Coney Island Restaurant in Brooksville.

McNeal was one of three HHS senior players that signed a scholarship offer to play for the two-year junior college.

McNeal, who hit .321 this past year with six home runs and 22 RBIs while also going 3-4 on the mound with a

4.78 ERA, said the meeting with the scout at the tryout in Orange Beach helped immensely.

"I went to a showcase at Orange Beach and I was elected to the Top 100 by the scouting staff of Pro-Day Showcase," said the Brooksville senior. "I then met a scout and we exchanged phone numbers and we kept in touch during the year. Then he called and told me that Bishop State was having a tryout in Mobile and he wanted me to go."

That tryout turned into McNeal's good fortune as the coaching staff of Bishop saw both him and Pugh and offered them a scholarship.

Hard to describe

His coach at Hernando, Donnie Whitehead, said that McNeal is a hard player to describe.

"He's got a lot of power potential for his age and has a lot of raw ability," said the Leopard coach. "Here's a kid who in the course of his high school career played outfield, third base, shortstop, second base, first base, pitcher and even caught some over the summer."

Whitehead said because of that, McNeal never had the chance to settle in one spot, but that would also help him in college.

"He's a super utility guy," said the coach. "Andrew's going to succeed on the next level because he seems to do better, the better the pitching is."

"The last two years he's just started to understand the game better," said Whitehead. "Certain situations, like what opposing pitchers are going to throw him and how to move around defensively."

Some of the four-year schools that have contacted McNeal are Florida State, Stetson and Florida Atlantic.

The Leopard senior threw just over 26 innings this year and thought he had an OK year.

"My year was above average for me, but it could have been much better," he said. "It started off real slow and I really didn't get going until mid-season."

When asked if he was worried about being so far away from Brooksville and his family, McNeal did not hesitate.

"Not at all," he said. "What's there to be worried about? I'm a little mature for my age and that won't worry me. This is something I've been waiting for since my freshman year. When you work hard, the sky's the limit."