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AMERICUS – Perhaps one of the finest athletes to come out of Sumter County, Southland Academy senior pitcher Chase Ledger, has made his decision as to where he would continue his education and his college baseball career. In front of a huge crowd made up of family, teammates, classmates and friends on Tuesday, May 2, the highly recruited Ledger signed his letter of intent to continue his baseball career at Albany State.

So far this year, Ledger has an ERA of 2.25 with 75 strikeouts in 49 and 1/3 innings pitched with only 16 RBIs and has an 0.97 walks and hits per inning ratio.

In addition to ASU, Ledger was sought after by schools such as Piedmont College, Andrew College and Mercer University among others, but in the end, he decided to take his talents to Albany to compete for the Golden Rams.

“The coaching staff really sold me,” Ledger said. “They win a lot. They’ve got a great program. I feel like I can really grow as a player there and as a human being.” From what Ledger has been told by the ASU coaching staff, they plan to use him as a starting pitcher.

Ledger plans to major in Political Science while at ASU and would like to practice law after graduation.

In addition to his abilities on the diamond, Ledger has also been a fine football player for the Raiders. During his sophomore year, Ledger was the starting punter for the Raiders and broke the school record for the longest punt in a game (75 yards).

Ledger has many fond memories from his years at Southland Academy, but one of them stands out above all the rest. “The other day, we filled out a thing for our senior thing and probably the most fun I’ve had as a Southland student was my junior year of basketball season,” Ledger said. That year, the Raiders made it all the way to the GISA Class AAA Final Four.

There are many things that Southland head baseball coach John Brady could say about Ledger and what he has meant to the Raider program, but the most important thing, according to Brady, comes down to one word: leadership.

He’s been, really I would say since the 10^th grade, he’s really, really been the leader that makes us go all the time,” Brady said. “He was obviously a very key part of what we did on the mound, even as an eighth and ninth grader, but since the 10^th grade, it’s just his leadership more than anything. His intensity, he’s a competitor like nobody I’ve ever had. I think if I answer that question with one word, I think it’s his leadership. You can’t put a value on that,” Brady continued.