By Douglas Maxwell Myer, Contributing Writer
Marlborough – Leo Coelho is a three-sport senior athlete at Marlborough High School, participating in football, basketball and baseball. In the latter, particularly, Coelho shines. He is captain of the baseball varsity team and last year held a .500 pitching statistic (3 wins, 3 losses) with a batting average of .333.
In third grade, when Coelho had just moved to Marlborough, his father noticed he was able to throw a tennis ball really far while playing outside with friends. He encouraged his son to try out for baseball. Coelho first played for the town league, but didn’t take part in any school teams until he went to Marlborough High.
There, Coelho started off on the freshman team, but quickly moved up to varsity as a sophomore when Coach Paul Duplessis recognized his developing ability. Since then, Duplessis has pushed him to become the best he can be. Although Coelho has experience as a pitcher, batter, and outfielder on the team, there is one position he loves the most.
“Pitcher is my favorite position, no doubt, because you have to be mentally strong to be one,” Coelho explained. “You get to manipulate pitches to throw off the batter and it is great!”
Usually before a game Coelho preps for pitching by listening to music with a hood over his head, shutting off everything around him.
Coelho said he is a great admirer of Dustin Pedroia from the Boston Red Sox and Matt Buroni, a former Marlborough High baseball player – both maintain a great work ethic and have led their teams.
A noted game for Coelho’s team last season was against Algonquin Regional High School. Coelho was already 3 for 3 in hitting that day, when the game became tied. In extra innings, one of his teammates was at third base when Coelho went up to the plate. He struck a hard hit ball to the third basemen which tipped off his glove. Marlborough scored the winning run and the victory. That matchup was one of Coelho’s outstanding achievements and, he said, will remain a fond memory for him of his time at Marlborough High.
Marlborough’s current season has had a difficult start, but Coelho is determined to give his all. He said the most challenging factor in baseball is staying in the zone throughout the whole game.
“When it’s a long inning, as a human your mind just starts drifting off to other places,” noted Coelho.
During the off-season Coelho enjoys going to the batting cages several times a week. This fall he will be enrolled at Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston and hopes to play on their baseball team in the spring of 2016.
“The thing I love about baseball is that it is always the closest team I am on,” Coelho noted. “Everyone usually gets along and we all have each other’s backs.”
