Mike Le Bel

Classroom

As a Finance major, Le Bel is a five-time Dean’s List honoree and four-time member of the Atlantic 10 Commissioner’s Honor Roll (semester GPA of 3.50 or better). He is a recipient of URI’s Scholar-Athlete Award as well as a member of the Atlantic 10 All-Academic Team. Most recently, he represented and addressed all of Rhode Island’s Dean’s List student-athletes as the selected speaker at URI’s annual reception for Dean’s List honorees. Additionally, he is a member of the Phi Eta Sigma National Honor Society. For the past two years, he has served as a featured blogger for College Baseball Daily (http://goo.gl/l6Nqw). After his playing career, Le Bel plans to utilize his finance degree to help impact the lives of inner-city athletes.

Character

One fo 30 candidates originally selected for the 2012 Senior Class Award, Le Bel’s senior campaign was quickly derailed as he sustained a season-ending injury (to his non-throwing shoulder) after just 13 at-bats. A four-year starter in the URI infield, Le Bel then moved to the Rams’ bullpen and made two relief appearances before deciding to undergo surgery and return in 2013. His “team before self” mentality and “lead by example” demeanor have earned him the role of team co-captain for the past three years. “Mike is a great teammate, a great student, a very good player and an even better person who comes from a great family,” said head coach Jim Foster. The source of Le Bel’s drive and motivation comes from his best friend, Patrick White, who passed away from rhabdomyosarcoma (a rare form of tissue cancer) when Le Bel was 15 years old. Le Bel now wears White’s former jersey number (#7) as a way of keeping his best friend and former teammate on the field with him. No stranger to tragedy, Le Bel was again forced to deal with the loss of a teammate when redshirt freshman Joey Ciancola’s sudden death shook the entire URI community last fall. A true tribute to his character, Le Bel remained a rock for his team throughout this very difficult time. He and his teammates created “Flow for Joe” and refrained from cutting their hair throughout the 2012 baseball season as an homage to Ciancola and his long hair.

Community

Le Bel has been involved with the Patrick White Jimmy Fund Baseball Tournament since 2001. Played in memory of his best friend and former teammate, Patrick White, the tournament has raised more than $200,000 for the Jimmy Fund. When Le Bel was too old to play in the tournament, he continued to help out in any way he could - from assisting with concessions, raffles and public address, to throwing ceremonial first pitches and presenting checks to the Jimmy Fund at the annual Jimmy Fund Telethon held at Fenway Park in Boston. In 2010, a memorial for Patrick White was erected at Adams Field in Quincy, Mass. and Le Bel was chosen to unveil it in front of the community. Le Bel also has volunteered at the Animal Rescue League of Southern Rhode Island as well as various elementary schools throughout Rhode Island and Massachusetts. He served as a museum docent at Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts and assists with the Gull Point Yacht Club’s community events in his hometown of Quincy, Mass. He also has participated in URI’s annual breast cancer awareness event and has served as a volunteer instructor at numerous baseball camps and clinics. Along with his teammates, Le Bel has taken an active role in generating autism awareness - a cause that is especially important to head coach Jim Foster as his daughter, Delaney, is affected by autism. Through team’s annual Autism Awareness game, URI has raised more than $10,000 for the Autism Project of RI.

Competition

Le Bel enters the season having started in 168 games since 2009.  He is a career .317 hitter with 208 hits, 158 runs, 38 doubles, 25 home runs, 114 RBI, 63 stolen bases and a .522 slugging percentage. As a freshman, he helped lead URI to a school-record 37 victories. Twice recognized in College Baseball Insider’s coaches poll as the Atlantic 10’s Best Infield Arm/Best Defensive Infielder (2012-13) and tabbed one of the Atlantic 10’s top MLB Draft prospects by Baseball America, he has collected Atlantic 10 All-Conference, All-Championship and All-Rookie awards and also was selected to play in the 2011 New England Intercollegiate Baseball Association (NEIBA) All-Star Game. After just three years at URI, he owned the career home runs record. He also is on pace to set new all-time records in runs, total bases, extra base hits and assists and will likely end his career ranked fifth or better in hits, doubles, triples, RBI, stolen bases, slugging percentage and sacrifices. Since his arrival at Rhode Island, the Rams have posted four consecutive 30+ win seasons.