2008 Woodie Awards
Small Stature, Big Heart
Baseball: LePage Uses Relentless Work Ethic To Earn Nod At Second Base
Mike Northup
Issue date: 4/28/08 Section: Sports
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While the heroes of that game were Matt Karl, who pitched three innings of shutout ball from the bullpen, and Mike Nemeth, who drove in the game-winning run in the bottom of the ninth, head coach Jim Penders wasn't short on words for his 5-foot-7 leadoff hitter.
"He is the catalyst," Penders said. "He is the prototype. As far as his body goes, he is not what you'd look for in a prototype, but everything inside the body is UConn baseball. That's how I look at him. He's going to be the model for what we recruit in terms of what he brings to the table in terms of hustle, attitude, concentration, effort. Everything he does is hard. So he's going to be the model for what we continue to recruit."
While Penders has nothing but praise for LePage now, there's a high chance that had a few events unfolded differently four years ago, LePage might not even be in a UConn uniform today.
A Fortunate Error
About four years ago Penders had sent assistant coach Chris Podeszwa, who coaches on Cape Cod and recruits in the area during the summer, to a tournament outside of Boston in search of a shortstop.
LePage, who was only 14 at the time and had just finished his freshman year of high school, was in the tournament. Right away it was apparent to Penders that Podeszwa had somehow wound up at the wrong tournament and the guy they were looking for wasn't there.
Penders remembers the conversation between the two that day:
"I think you guys screwed up," Podeszwa said. "We're in the wrong place, but I couldn't stop watching this one kid."
"What are you talking about?" Penders said.
"They were like 14-year-olds," Podeszwa said.
"You gotta be kidding me," Penders said.
"There's this little guy, who just plays his tail off," Podeszwa said. "He's the first one on the field and first one off it."
"All right Dez, I gotta go, I gotta figure out where we screwed up here," Penders said. "Find me the shortstop we're looking for. Thanks but no thanks."
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