Sterling Meetinghouse News

By Danielle Ray, Senior Reporter

Andrew LeBlanc could be at University of Maine Farmington playing baseball. Instead, when the COVID-19 pandemic hit a year ago, he made the difficult decision to forgo that path and stay closer to home in Sterling. 

“I felt safer if I stayed in-state,” he said. “It didn’t make any sense for me to go out-of-state where I was hoping to have a different experience. No matter where you go right now it is going to be the exact same or very similar, and there were regulations put in place at UMF that prevented me from coming down to see my family as often as I would’ve liked.”

LeBlanc, 18, who has lived in Sterling with his family for five years, is currently attending Worcester State University as a history major with a minor in secondary education. He has decided to remain there. 

“I enjoy Worcester and feel like I’m at home,” he said. “This is where I belong.”

LeBlanc started playing baseball when he was six years old through Leominster American Little League, and more recently played left field on the baseball team at Leominster High School where he graduated from. 

“Those guys were all really fun to be around, there was never a dull moment,” he said of his high school teammates. “The guys would always be telling jokes and laughing and having a good time. I miss the people I went to school with and learning from everyone that was around, receiving tips about how I can make myself better as a player. Leominster is a big baseball city so a lot of the time there would be a lot of people watching the games. It was a great experience overall and I wish I could go back and relive those moments.”

He is currently the bullpen catcher for the Lancers at Worcester State, and although it is not where he imagined he would be, he is glad to be able to continue his baseball journey there. “I enjoy the competitiveness of the sport and the lessons I have learned throughout the years I’ve played,” he said. “Baseball has helped me create new friends as well.”