Leroux, Rockets set for final blast.

• Position: SPORTS

Byline: Jim Wilson

AUBURN - Auburn High's Jon Leroux had plenty of reasons to accept a baseball scholarship to Northeastern University. The senior knows the school will give him the skills to become a teacher/coach, and the baseball team will help him get ready for a possible pro career.

It also helped that Northeastern will need a catcher next spring.

"I'm looking forward to it," said Leroux, who chose the Huskies over UConn, UMass, UMass-Lowell and St. John's University. "They travel all over the place. They go to Virginia next week and Dallas later this year. It was a great fit and, of course, a great program."

Oh, and playing the Red Sox every spring training helped sway his decision, too.

"As long as I don't get hit and I make contact once, I'll be happy," Leroux said of stepping into the box against the likes of Josh Beckett. "Even if I foul something off, they can make me look silly on a pitch and I'll tip my hat and walk back to the dugout."

But first things first for Auburn's three-sport star, who hopes to help the loaded Rockets defend their Central Mass. Division 2 title. Leroux leads a pack of 12 seniors looking for redemption after a 10-inning, 1-0 loss to Plymouth North in last year's state final.

Auburn opened its season on Friday with a 16-2 win over Quaboag Regional.

"We faced so many good players the last couple of years, and that's made us better over the long run," said Leroux, fully recovered from a knee injury suffered in basketball. "We just want to get to 10 wins and let whatever happens after that happen. It's up to fate at that point."

While the bus ride home from Lowell was somber, the morale was high as Auburn knew it would return all but three of its starters and had a lot more talent waiting to fill in the holes.

"Everyone here wants to win," Leroux said. "Almost every player here played in that state final, so it was a great opportunity for all of us."

Leroux, who quarterbacked Auburn's football team to two Super Bowl titles, made an immediate impact on the baseball diamond, hitting .467 as a freshman and .475 as a sophomore. Last season, he hit .406 for the 18-8 Rockets.

It's been a sharp ascent for Leroux. Coach Eric Swedberg has enjoyed watching him mature into a leader.

"It's really good for your program to have kids who are set in the fact they're playing at the next level before their senior season starts," Swedberg said. "What that does is let Jon think, `Now I'm a college baseball player and I'm in...