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Rookie sensation: Molessa collects awards in freshman season at UMBC

By Jay W. Bennett 5 min read

PARKERSBURG -- There's been no slowing down for Williamstown High School graduate and current University of Maryland, Baltimore County infielder Leewood Molessa since he ended his first season with the Retrievers.

Although he was back in the area Thursday to take care of some business, the 2021 co-Little Kanawha Conference Player of the Year is set to spend the summer in the Valley Baseball League competing for the Front Royal Cardinals.

"I thought it went pretty well overall," Molessa said of being a first-year, student-athlete at the Division I level.

"I did well in the fall and did well in the spring. Got all my classes done and got the grades I wanted."

The biology major has played three games for the Cardinals thus far. He's hitting .308 with a double and one run-batted-in.

"It's a wood bat league," said Molessa, who was named by Diamond Sports to the 2023 Collegiate Baseball Freshman All-American team after hitting .294 with 16 home runs, 15 doubles, a triple, four steals and a UMBC single-season record 66 RBIs.

"It's part of the National Alliance of College Summer Baseball. There are different leagues. This is in the Shenandoah Valley. They usually play five or six days a week starting the beginning of June. We play until the end of July. We play like 44 games. It's a lot of games in a short time."

Along with being tabbed as an All-American, the ex-Yellowjacket earned second team America East honors and was named the conference Rookie of the Year.

"I knew about it in the fall," Molessa said of where he'd be playing this summer. "One of our assistant coaches, our hitting coach, informed me that's where I would be heading.

"It's been pretty fun. You get to meet a lot of new guys and new coaches. You are playing baseball every day, every day. That's what you eat, sleep and breathe."

As focused as Molessa likes to be on the diamond, he also had to bear down with his studies.

"Whenever we have school during the fall and spring it's tough, and you have to be pretty dedicated in your schedule," he said. "All you are doing is baseball and school. Getting a breather in the summer from school is pretty nice."

Molessa's 16 round-trippers placed him second in school history for a single season. He was just one bomb away from tying the all-time mark.

"I thought it was good, but I thought it could be a lot better," Molessa responded when asked to describe his freshman campaign. "Our exit meeting with the coaches, there's a lot of areas I can continue to improve on and to be a lot better next year and help us get back to the conference championship where we will have a chance to win it next year. That's the ultimate goal. I thought the fall went well.

"This past fall and winter, defensively and offensively, I really refined my approach and I'm going to continue to do that. Put the ball in play more often and harder, and overall just be a tougher out. I felt that it was a good season this past season. I felt like I did my job. That's all the coaches ask of me is my best. That's what I try to give, my best, whether it's good, bad or ugly that day, but I try to give my best. It's a game of failure. The more you experience it the better off you will be."

The first baseman, who also is fine with playing the hot corner, was steadfast with his response to the question of what he would tell himself a year ago if he knew what he knows now.

"I probably just say get as many live at-bats in as you can. Those are like gold in baseball," Molessa added.

"The more live at-bats, the more experience you have and it helps you that much more in this game."

Despite all the success as a freshman, Molessa understands baseball is a humbling game and he has to continue focusing on being the best student-athlete he can.

"Personally, I really enjoyed it. I always enjoy challenges, whether it's academically or athletically," he said of going from single-A to D1. "I already knew what I was going to get myself into on the student-athlete side, and we knew it was going to be tough. It's tough on all student-athletes once you get to that level, but I've enjoyed it so far.

"It's (Baltimore) different from home here. There's a lot more people overall. The people I was around all the time, at school or with the guys on the team, I really bonded well and we had a good chemistry. I'm looking forward to next year. There's a lot of good guys and I really enjoyed playing with them this year."

One thing Molessa would trade in a heartbeat for any individual accolade is a trip to the College World Series in Omaha.

"That's the goal. That's the end goal," he said.

Starting at /week.