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Last week, Ariton High School All-State infielder Lawson Leger signed his college letter-of-intent to play baseball at Wallace Community College in Dothan.

Leger earned All-State and All-Messenger honors as a senior after helping lead Ariton to a second straight Class 2A State Championship. Leger earned a .338 batting average and .418 on-base percentage with a team-leading four homers, 43 RBIs, 40 runs, nine doubles, two triples and 19 stolen bases. He also held a .905 fielding percentage defensively with 34 putouts, 32 assists and two double plays. As a pitcher, Leger earned a 1.52 ERA with 14 strikeouts in 23 innings pitched.

“It’s really close to home and I have kept up with the program for a long time and it’s one of the best junior college (JUCO) programs there is,” Leger said of his decision to sign with Wallace. “It works really good with my family being able to come to my games and me being able to stay at home.”

Leger said he knows a number of players that have signed with Wallace and players already on the team. Leger, Pike Lib’s Will Rice, Headland’s Evan Taylor, Dothan’s Blake Wynn and Houston Academy’s Cam Dyer are just some of the incoming Wallace signees from the Wiregrass.

“I know a couple of them on the team already and some of those incoming freshmen that are coming in with me,” Leger said. “I feel like I can get along with everyone there, and that was big for me, too.”

Leger was part of an Ariton program that not only won the first state championship in school history but did it back-to-back.

“Winning my junior year was phenomenal because it made history at our school and to do it back-to-back and go out as a state champ my senior year was special,” Leger said. “To do it once in high school is pretty rare but to go back-to-back is extremely rare and I’m very thankful I got to go out that way.”

Leger is already looking forward to playing in college.

“I just want to get on the field and help our team win in anyway I can,” Leger said of his goals. “We haven’t really discussed positions but I feel comfortable playing anywhere they need a player and I’ll do whatever it takes to help the team win.”