Why Dylan Leach is skipping his senior season to play for the Diamond Hogs

High school football is king in Texas, so when Dylan Leach was given an opportunity to play at one of college baseball’s premier programs earlier than expected, he jumped on it.

The Class of 2021 catcher from Carthage, Texas, announced last week that he was graduating from high school this summer, skipping his entire senior season to begin his collegiate career at Arkansas a year early.

With Casey Opitz projected to be taken in the MLB Draft, even if it’s shortened, Leach wanted to throw his name into the hat as a possible replacement. Plus, it’s something he saw highly touted prospect Robert Moore do this year, enrolling early and immediately finding his way into the starting lineup.

“Opitz is going to get drafted for sure, so I’m like, ‘Well, I’ve got a chance to maybe come up there and get in the running to start,’” Leach said. “Seeing Robert Moore come up there and do it, it was like, ‘You know what, I can do it.’”

Unlike Moore, who graduated in December and didn’t join the Razorbacks until about a month before the season, Leach said he’s taking five summer classes in order to graduate in time to make it to Fayetteville for the fall semester.

If there’s a silver lining to the current coronavirus shutdown across the country, it’s that it will actually help him finish those classes because he likely won’t have to juggle them with high school and travel baseball.