Third Central grad joins Southeast baseball team

~ Slattery batted .471 with six homers during his senior season.

The Southeast Missouri State baseball program added its third 2007 Cape Girardeau Central High School graduate.

Blake Slattery, who projects as an outfielder in college, will join high school teammates Matt Hester and Brad LaBruyere with the Redhawks after signing a national letter of intent.

"Blake is a tremendous athlete and is only going to get better here at Southeast," Southeast coach Mark Hogan said in a release. "We are extremely excited to have him in our program. We look forward to big things from Blake during his freshman season in our quest for an OVC championship."

Slattery is the reigning Southeast Missourian player of the year in baseball and football. He starred as a quarterback and defensive back, earning all-state honors in both sports.

As a Central senior, Slattery batted .471 with 15 doubles, six home runs, five triples, 34 RBIs, 30 runs scored and seven stolen bases.

Slattery currently plays shortstop for the Cape Girardeau Ford & Sons American Legion team. He is batting .403 with 16 doubles, 12 home runs, six triples and 52 RBIs.

Slattery orignially signed to play baseball at Mineral Area College in Park Hills, Mo., but he said the lure of competing at the Division I level in his hometown was too great to pass up.

"It's a dream come true," Slattery said. "This is the kind of offer I wasn't expecting to come until after two years at Mineral Area."

Both of Slattery's parents are Southeast graduates. His father Terry is a former Southeast football player who led the then-Indians in receptions during the 1975 season, when he caught 28 passes.

"It's pretty neat to go to school there after my mom and dad both went there," Slattery said.

Slattery said at one time he considered playing football in college and even talked to Southeast's coaches about that possibility shortly after the football season ended.

But he believes baseball is the way for him to go.

"I'm probably better at baseball and I like it better," he said.

Slattery, outfielder Hester and right-handed pitcher LaBruyere are among Southeast's 11-player recruiting class that also includes Advance's Trenton Moses.