LaPointe kept alive tradition of success

Mike LaPointe played for two schools with proud traditions of athletic excellence, yet found a way to stand out amid all that success.

LaPointe played for a state champion hockey team and for a traditionally strong baseball team at Massena high school during the mid-1990s. Then he became an All-American while playing second base for NCAA Division III power SUNY Cortland.

In his final season of collegiate baseball, LaPointe helped advance Cortland into the Division III College World Series in 2000. Cortland finished fifth in the nation that year and recorded a 36-9 record.

LaPointe received first-team All-America mention as a senior and was also named the Eastern College Athletic Conference Upstate New York Division III Player of the Year. He played in all 45 games for Cortland, hitting a team-high eight home runs and batting .446. He added 35 RBIs, 12 doubles, 15 stolen bases, 40 walks and 66 runs. LaPointe was also a standout fielder, making two errors in 224 chances at second for a .991 fielding percentage and was named the top defensive player in Division III.

For his career at Cortland, LaPointe hit .388 with 20 home runs, 109 RBIs, 54 steals and a school-record 190 runs in three seasons. LaPointe still holds the school record for runs scored and is tied for fourth overall in total home runs, fifth in total bases (295), tied for fifth in doubles (36), seventh in hits (181) and seventh in stolen bases.

LaPointe often led off for Cortland, providing a rare combination of speed and power for a lead-off hitter. He actually transferred from Division I St. Bonaventure after his freshman season.

LaPointe built an impressive high school career on the diamond, playing four years on varsity and hitting .440 his junior season to attract St. Bonaventure's interest. During his senior season at Massena, he was named to the Times All-North first team. LaPointe also reached the Times first team in hockey during his senior year. He led the Red Raiders with 19 goals and 21 assists, winning the Section 10 Division I MVP.

LaPointe was inducted into the Massena Central Hall of Fame in 2007. He's also a member of the inducted Massena state hockey championship team of 1995.

LaPointe, who also won several academic awards during his school years, now lives in Stamford, Conn., where he is an internal wholesale manager for Legg Mason, a capital management firm. He still plays hockey and baseball recreationally and last summer took his parents to watch the U.S. Open in New York.

To read about previous selections to the Times' list of The North Country's Greatest Athletes of All-Time, log on to www.watertowndailytimes.com