“He gets a base hit to left, and he gets out of the box so well that he read the shortstop pursued the ball to his right and was in line between the pitcher and left fielder instead of second base and left. He reads the left fielder is throwing to short, and he took second. The next kid drives him in with a hit, and we win 4-3.”

The son of a coach, Leffler was part of a 31-win team his senior year that won the SIRR Ohio title and advanced to the sectionals. Leffler finished his Benton career with 32 homers and 154 RBI in just 443 at-bats, as well as 50 stolen bases.

While compiling a career average of .431, Leffler also walked as many times as he fanned (63), illustrating his control of the strike zone. In fact, Leffler accumulated more hit by pitches (13) as a senior than strikeouts (12).

Again, the numbers don’t quite tell the whole story. Blondi, who in a Thursday night conversation had no trouble coming up with entertaining anecdotes about his former star, waxed almost poetic about Leffler’s thirst for victory.

“Lef set the tone,” Blondi said. “He had such a presence, and I don’t know if we’ve seen a kid like him. He played crazy hard, and I loved having him on my team. It was fun to watch him play and compete.”

There were some around the area who didn’t quite share Blondi’s enthusiasm, a fact the coach admits. No matter the sport – Leffler was a quarterback in football and a starter on a Ranger hoops team that won a regional title in 2012 – his manic intensity stuck out.