NATCHITOCHES – During the Chris Bertrand era, the Northwestern State baseball team has made player development a pillar of its program.
 
As the Demons begin their third Southland Conference series of the season Friday night at 6:30 against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at Brown-Stroud Field, the evidence is at the top of the lineup.
 
Junior Brooks Leonard enters the weekend not only having solidified his spot as Northwestern's leadoff hitter but also thriving in that spot. In nine games as the leadoff man, Leonard is batting .333 and reaching base at a .414 clip.
 
An outfielder who also has seen time at second base, Leonard also has swiped four of his team-leading six bases since moving to the top of the lineup. A junior from Pierre Part, Leonard has started 15 games – four more than across his first two years in the program combined.
 
"Building with quality people," Bertrand said. "Building with great human beings. Brooks exemplifies everything we talk about when we talk about growth and development and a great fit for the program – what we want Demon baseball to be. A guy like Brooks, who has that work-while-you-wait mentality, who will play any position, do anything for the team. Brooks accepts every challenge that is laid before him, and he accepts in a way where he puts his head down and he works. He's been a guy who has run the gamut of it. He's been a role player to a part-time player to the top of the lineup to infield to outfield. He's everything we want Demon baseball to be about."
 
Leonard and the Demons (10-7, 3-3) head into this weekend's #ForkCancer series, which includes a 2 p.m. Saturday first pitch and a 1 p.m. Sunday matinee, coming off a road Southland Conference series win at UIW and a 13-2 midweek win against Alcorn State.
 
The matchup with the Islanders (10-7, 0-2) was supposed to be part of the first five-game week of the season for Northwestern, whose Wednesday game at Grambling was postponed because of inclement weather.
 
"The way you respond to anything is going to determine the way things are handled," Bertrand said. "For us, it definitely throws a little different plan at you than what you had originally planned for. We look at it as an opportunity – an opportunity to get some guys healthy, to get some guys some rest, maybe an opportunity to work on some things in a different setting. As much as we love playing and competing and seeing the value in it, we also see the value in going to work on some of the details of the game that we want to continue to strengthen or sharpen."
 
The visiting Islanders bring a versatile offense to Natchitoches, one that leads the Southland in triples (6) and ranks second in stolen bases (29) and sacrifice bunts (9). Individually, graduate infielder Cade Sanchez leads the Southland in hitting at .403 while junior outfielder Isaiah Afework paces the SLC with two triples and Christian Smith-Johnson shares the league lead with 12 stolen bases.
 
Unlike the Demons' most recent Southland opponent – UIW and first-year head coach Nick Zalesk -- Texas A&M-Corpus Christi is led by the dean of Southland Conference coaches Scott Malone, who is in his 19^th season at the helm of the Islander program.
 
"You know exactly what you're going to get – a very well-coached team, a very disciplined team, a team that likes to compete in the same way we feel we do," Bertrand said. "You know you're in for three great games. You know you're in for a battle. For us, we're happy and we are excited to play these games at home and to be at the B-Stro in front of our fans. It's familiar ground. We have to continue to strike a balance. We have to realize it is week three of conference play and these are high-stakes games, but we also need to continue to work on the Demons."
 
Series Probables
Friday: Texas A&M-Corpus Christi RHP Preston Watkins (0-0, 3.00) at Northwestern State LHP Brody Trosclair (2-0, 0.00)
Saturday: Texas A&M-Corpus Christi RHP Nathan Mueller (0-1, 5.65) at Northwestern State RHP Dylan Marionneaux (0-2, 5.31)
Sunday: Texas A&M-Corpus Christi RHP Bryson Shea (1-2, 7.90) at Northwestern State RHP Trent Hillen (1-1, 5.95)