Leach, a former minor leaguer in the Cleveland Indians farm system, came to Beeville in 1972 to take over the program after stops at various high schools, including nearby Kingsville. He coached the Cougars through 1985, when the college disbanded the program.   Leach returned to the high school ranks after that before retiring in 2000.

 

The scholarship will be awarded annually to a Cougar baseball player. Further details about the qualifications and criteria for the scholarship will be determined at a later date.

 

The CBC Foundation is currently seeking donations for a matching gift for the scholarship. An anonymous donation of $10,000 was made in Leach's honor as the initial gift for the scholarship.

Former Cougar baseball players Jimmy Gonzales and Randy O'Rear are championing that effort as part of a fundraising challenge to former Cougar baseball players.

 

Gonzales currently works as the national crosschecker for the Washington Nationals and O'Rear is currently the president of the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor. "Coach Leach had a profound impact on me as well as countless Cougar baseball players, so I'm honored to help lead the charge to fund a scholarship in his honor," Gonzales said about the fundraising effort. "Coach Leach taught us invaluable lessons both on and off the diamond. We have an opportunity to forever cement his legacy with the creation of this scholarship benefiting the next generation of Cougar baseball players."

 

Donations to the Coach Bob Leach Endowed Baseball Scholarship fundraising challenge can be made at tinyurl.com/coachbobleach.