Playing college baseball wasn’t the plan for recent Independence graduate Andy Lester.
Going to college wasn’t either.
“I was pretty much set on that I was going to work and baseball was over,” Lester admitted.
As fate would have it the slugger still has a little juice left in the bat.
Surrounded by coaches, teammates and family, Lester singed his National Letter of Intent to play college baseball at Concord University on Wednesday at Independence.
Lester never really considered playing at the next level until a conversation with a coach late in the season prompted him to explore his options. It didn’t take long for him to make a decision once he started missing the sport.
“One of my coaches, Mark Ward, actually knew the coach down there and was talking to him,” Lester said. “And (Concord) Coach (Devin) Smith called me one day when I was driving down the road and I was talking to him and it kind of relit the flame. It didn’t take long for me to make up my mind – maybe a week. Once I knew I had a chance I was pretty set on it.”
The flames were stoked when Indy’s season came to an end last month, making the decision easier for Lester.
“It never really hit me that baseball was over and I’d never play again until we lost,” Lester said. “Before then I never really pursued but once it ended I thought ‘Well, it’s too late in the game and I don’t have a chance to go anywhere’ but then he called me and I was sold.”
Lester will now likely have to wait a few years to fully immerse himself in the workforce and he’s okay with that, planning to study and take practical courses that could help him moving forward.
“I’m going to do environmental science or geoscience or something like that so I’ll be outside,” Lester said. “I actually went to votech in high school and was going to be an electrician but I just kind of fell in love with it when I was (at Concord) and I want to play four more years of baseball.”
Lester, who batted .382 to go along with a home run and 27 RBIs is ready to embrace the challenge the next level presents to him, knowing he’ll also need to improve along the way. He already has a list of things he wants to improve upon in order to see the field and maximize his opportunity.
“Me and my game, I’ve always had good hands and I’ve always been quick (with the bat),” Lester said. “But I’ve always been slow and a little bit out of shape. I’m going to have to start thinning out and getting in shape.”
