No. 5 – Leslie-Anne Picone
THIS YEAR: Sophomore Leslie-Anne Picone is an experienced player who is battling for a starting spot at shortstop ... Hoping a year of collegiate play will help in producing an improved bat ... Is a good athlete with fluid motions in the field ... Consistency will be a determining factor is playing status throughout the season.
2009 (freshman): Appeared in 28 of the Cougars' 49 games, starting at shortstop in all 28 she played ... Had plate appearances in just 9 games and went 7-for-25 ... In a season-opening sweep of Chaminade, went 4-for-7 with 4 RBIs, 3 of which came on a bases loaded triple in just her second collegiate game ... Was 2-for-3 with a pair of RBIs and 2 runs in win over Middlebury ... Was quite efficient with her hits, producing 7 RBIs on just 7 hits.
HIGH SCHOOL: Played 4 seasons of varsity softball for head coach Dave Piper at Capital Christian High in Sacramento, Calif. ... Was a 4-year starter at shortstop and batted .364 in a 91-game career ... Was a 4-time All-Golden Empire League athletic and academic selection ... Was a 3-time Sacramento Bee all-metro honoree ... Named team defensive MVP 3 straight years ... As a 2008 senior batted .403 (31-for-77) for the 15-14 and league-champion Cougars with 5 doubles, 3 triples and 26 runs scored in 29 games played ... Was a perfect 11-for-11 on stolen base attempts ... Went a combined 4-for-6 with 4 runs and 8 RBIs in back-to-back victories over San Juan and Highlands highs ... Two weeks later went a combined 8-for-8 with 8 runs and 2 RBIs vs. the same 2 schools ... Batted .609 (28-for-46) over the final 17 games of the season ... As a 2007 junior batted .339 (19-for-56) in 19 games with a 5 triples and 13 RBIs for the 16-11 Cougars who finished as the CIF runner-up ... Missed the final 6 games with an injury ... Went 3-for- 3 with 3 runs and 3 RBIs in a win over Bret Harte High ... As a 2006 sophomore appeared in 22 of the 14-8 Cougars' games, batting .379 (25-for-66) with 2 triples, 6 doubles and 19 RBIs ... Went 3-for-4 with 3 RBIs and 2 runs in a win over Lindhurst High ... As a 2005 freshman batted .322 (19-for-59) with 5 doubles, 3 triples and 2 home runs for the 14-10 Cougars ... Also lettered 2 seasons in basketball, earning all-league first team honors as a junior and senior while playing on a pair of Golden Empire League championship teams ... As a junior, played a key role on a Cougar team that advanced to the CIF SAC-Joaquin championship game ... Was a co-recipient of the 2007-08 Capital Christian scholar-athlete award.
PERSONAL: Born Oct. 17, 1990 ... Parents are Marty (sheriff sergeant) and Kathy Picone (tuition manager) ... Has 1 brother (Michael) ... Majoring in pre-engineering ... Her dad played baseball in junior college ... Her grandfather played in the New York Yankees' farm system and her uncle in the Angels' system ... Also played travel softball for the Foothill Gold, Sacramento Dynasty, Roseville Heat, California Sting and Mizuno All-American 18 Gold ... Enjoys reading and solving Sudoku puzzles.
PICONE AT AZUSA PACIFIC YEAR G-GS AB R H 2B-3B-HR RBI SLG% BB HBP SO SB-SBA AVG 2009 28-28 25 3 7 0-1-0 7 .360 0 0 6 0-0 .280
