Plugging the Leake

An exciting time

2009-06-09T16:55:23Z

Well our young but "fierce" team was able to fend off a tough Clemson Tigers program and brings us one step closer to our goal of winning a College World Series. I am very proud of what our boys have done this year and eager to see what we are capable of doing on a big stage.

It's the night of the Draft and I am VERY excited...I'm also ready for the Draft to be over with. It has been awesome to be thought of as a "Top Prospect" over the last few years and I am anxious to see if my hard work paid off in the eyes of a Major League organization. My three years of what people like to call a "vacation" at ASU have been indescribable and I am ready to finally pursue a career in playing our national pastime. Baseball has been my dream job and it will feel weird to be paid to play a sport I love so much. I am not very nervous to see where I am picked; actually I am curious and anxious to see which team will be giving me my next opportunity.

The World Series will be another great experience for me and I will cherish it like there is no tomorrow. Many baseball players try to make it, however few are fortunate to experience it. It will be my goal to make sure my teammates do not get caught up with the fun of Rosenblatt, but to focus on our next obstacle. It will be a tough week and a half but we will stay humble, keep our heads down and lift our heads when the last catch is made.

This is a great time in my life right now with fantastic opportunities and obstacles along the way. I will embrace the opportunities with open arms and will stay humble wherever the road takes me . It will be a great two days for many baseball players, no doubt about that. I look forward to seeing where fellow teammates and opponents are chosen.

I have enjoyed sharing my thoughts and experiences with you all over the last month and appreciate everyone stopping by. This is something I'll never forget.

Take care and GO DEVILS!

-Leaker

Draft's a week away, but Super Regionals come first!

2009-06-01T21:25:23Z

Well, we survived our first test by fending off Kent St. and Oral Roberts twice...both are really solid programs. Oral Roberts played us tough and showed why they deserved to be a two seed. They were able to overcome a lot of obstacles both before and during the season. I tip my hat to Coach Roberts for having a very successful team with such limited resources off the bench.

I am proud of our guys for battling this weekend even though we all feel that we did not play our best baseball. I would have liked to see how we would have done if we put all our elements together. With another tough opponent in either Oklahoma State or Clemson in the Super Regional, we can't afford to slip up. Both are top notch teams and it will be a tough super regional whoever we face. It would be nice to play Oklahoma St. because I know Oliver and Lyons and it is Coach Holliday's alum as well. Regardless, it will be an exciting challenge to face a team we have not played yet.

I am happy for the guys on our squad and their accomplishments thus far. However we have another road block coming our way and we will have to prepare ourselves as best we can for this weekend. It's just another three game series in our season that we have to win to get where we need to go. Make no mistake about it, these are high pressure games with our season on the line here. But you have to remember to stay loose, focus on the task at hand, not press and have fun...the rest should take care of itself.

The draft is just over a week away but I am not letting it get to me. When the 9^th comes I will be excited to see where I go, but I will have to wait until that day to get involved with that. Lots of speculations and mock drafts going around, but you never know where you are going to end up until your name is drawn from the hat. Right now my goal is for our team to take care of business this coming weekend and worry about the next obstacle at the appropriate time.

Thank you for your time! GO DEVILS!

-Leaker

Regionals here we come!

2009-05-27T13:43:28Z

The postseason is an exciting time of the year because everyone starts fresh. The regular seasons are erased and it is down to business from here on out. All teams that barely scooted by are ready to prove why they are worthy of being in the final 64. Every team is equal at this point and every team is in for the same reasons.

As for us, we are excited to see what we can do. You cannot make predictions because postseasons are unpredictable, but I am curious to see where we end up. I am looking to go a little farther this year than the last two years. We have the team and coaching staff to do it. We have Kent St. for our first game and it will not be an easy game. They have some great talent both on the mound and in the batters box and we cannot look past them one bit. Our second game will be either against Cal Poly or Oral Roberts. It would be nice to play against Oral Roberts because I played for Coach Walton this summer with Team USA. It will be nice to see him either way.

We feel good coming into this postseason with some experience under our belts. It will be nice to have Spence back in the rotation or in relief, however we decide to use him. We are healthy with little or no injuries and eager to get started Friday. It will be nice to play in front of our home fans as well considering we have the best attendance on the West Coast. Perhaps being my last college postseason, I will cherish every second.

We have a tough Regional to get through before we can start thinking about the next step, but we will fight every pitch and every out until the last catch is made.

Thank you for your time!

Another PAC-10 title in the books

2009-05-18T16:50:14Z

The last week was a successful one, not only for myself but more importantly, the team. We were able to sweep Oregon, a program that will be very successful in the next couple of years with some strong recruiting classes coming in. For the third straight season, we won the PAC-10 title. I realize how special that accomplishment is, given the fact that we play in the toughest conference in the country. Although conference titles are very nice, we'd like to put a slightly bigger championship in our trophy case!

Coming up is the last week of our regular season and we are hoping to pick up where we left off this past weekend. We have Arizona on Wednesday and UCLA this weekend. It is amazing how the time flies and that this is the last regular season week of my junior year. I am somewhat torn in my emotions at this point. I am excited to see what happens in three weeks with the draft, yet I will be sad when my last days at ASU arrive. All I know is that I will enjoy every moment of the remainder of this season because it may be my last as a Devil!

The postseason is an exciting time. We will be hosting our regional and hopefully our super regional if we make it that far. I have a bad taste in my mouth when it comes to postseasons; unfortunately I was on the wrong side of the final game in my first two seasons. This year I am looking to change that. I look forward to what lies ahead in the postseason because I know we have not played our best games yet. We have some scrappy players that love playing the game for the right reasons.

A few more weeks until the draft, however, still cued in to ASU baseball. I'm curious to see how things end up and to be honest, not sure that I like the waiting process. Regardless of how it shakes out, it will be an exciting few days for many, many baseball players.

Thank you to all the fans that read this blog and look forward to adding more as the weeks progress.

Leaker

An introduction to "the Leaker"

2009-05-12T11:59:07Z

What's up everyone? My name is Mike Leake (A.K.A. Leaker) and I am a pitcher at Arizona State University. I am honored to have the opportunity to share some of the experiences that have taken place throughout my baseball career thus far and what the future holds over the next few weeks.

I grew up in Rancho Bernardo, California, a suburb just outside of San Diego where it seems there are baseball and soccer fields on every corner. Believe it or not, my favorite sport was soccer. As I child growing up, I was fortunate enough to play many sports with a supportive family. I could talk all day about my childhood as it was one of the most enjoyable times of my life! Being able to follow my brother Ryan to the Westwood Club where all the kids would hang out and play basketball and hang by the pool...even though he did not want me to. There I go, off on a tangent about my childhood again!

Fast forward to my high school years, where our family moved to Valley Center. I made some amazing friends that I still keep in touch with, but ended up transferring to Fallbrook High after two years, where Coach Parker got me into shape and made me respect the game. From there I was drafted by the Oakland Athletics, a team known for developing their prospects and moving them up fairly quickly. At one point I was fifty-fifty on whether or not I should sign, but decided to experience college and continue my education. I like to think it proved to be a smart decision! No offense to the A's organization, of course!

My years at Arizona State have been somewhat surreal. Coach Murphy, Coach Stankie, Coach Ez and Coach Holliday have taught me so much about the game, that I would not know where to begin, although I like to think I knew everything before I came to ASU! This is a special place, but not made for everyone. The few that make it through should feel very honored and fortunate. ASU is a tremendous university with an amazing athletic program and I will miss it deeply when I am gone, whenever that may be!

I am looking forward to the next month of baseball and will cherish every moment. I am very excited about the draft, however, those thoughts will have to stay in the back of my mind for now because my heart is dedicated to the Devils as we have a lot of unfinished business! I thank everyone that has been involved in my life up until this point and look forward to what tomorrow has in store!

I'm glad that I was able to tell you a little about myself in the first entry. Please feel free to send me questions as I will be answering a few of them over the next month or so.

Thanks for stopping by and GO DEVILS!