Editor's Note: RebelGrove.com is publishing a series of letters that allow Ole Miss baseball fans to see some of the newcomers from the the No. 2 signing class nationally through the eyes of the selected players’ parents. For each entry, we conduct an interview and help a parent form a letter to his or her son, offering memories, accomplishments, advice and a look to the future.

Raymond and Lee-Anne LeFleur combine to send their son, Trey, these messages on opening day. LaFleur is a two-way player, who will concentrate on playing outfield this season for Ole Miss.

Dear Trey,

We can hear it in your voice. You’re happy and excited for the season to be here. We want you to look around and take everything in, remember moments and appreciate them for the work you’ve put in and the things you want to achieve. Feed off that energy. There’s a great contentment when your child is happy, and that’s what we’re feeling. You don’t know your role, but you know you’re in the right place and will get opportunities.

Just like we’ve told you, don’t change who you are but let people know who you are. This is your team and you love them. We’re proud of you and are excited for your journey.

And not just proud of your baseball achievements. We asked a lot of you growing up, and you always responded well. With both of us active military, there were moves, and we know you had to find new friends and adjust to your new environments, and you handled it with maturity and grace. We didn’t have to move around a lot, and not as much as some families, but we know especially the move from Virginia to Pensacola was difficult for you. You got really close to people and then you had to do it again. You adjusted well, and it put you in a situation to chase your baseball future.

You had to ease your way into travel teams and work for what you have. We knew we wanted to let you establish your roots in Pensacola, so as we both retired, we knew this would be where you found your footing and followed your baseball path. You played a little bit of basketball and goodness your dad tried to get you on the football field year after year, but when it came time to sign up for fall baseball, that was that. You knew what you wanted.

When you were young, baseball was just a sport Mom signed you up for, and you played it with no destination in sight. You had fun and looked only toward the next tournament. When you were in the eighth grade, we knew it was time to see how you stacked up. We asked you if you just wanted to only play in high school or wanted the next level. We decided to do everything for you to help, but you had to do it yourself, and, Trey, you accomplished it every step of the way. You added confidence, and when it was time to either practice baseball or hang with friends or go places, you chose baseball, and it paid off for you. You’d make up your mind.

When it came time for your recruitment, you knew you wanted to hit and pitch. We narrowed it down to schools that would allow you to do both. In hindsight, your finger injury your senior year was a blessing in disguise. After that early misdiagnosis, you had to take time off for surgery to put those two pins in your finger. And you were so excited to get back out there, hitting the same day you were cleared for competition. You hit a home run. Thankfully the coach gave in to the pleading to let you play. That time of only playing offense with the hurt finger developed you at the plate and helped you. We just didn’t realize it at the time.

Every coach who came by to recruit you was a blessing. You get to have a higher education and do what you love. When Ole Miss started, we went up there and talked with Mike Clement and it was so personable and not a sales pitch. When they played the recruiting video there were goosebumps and we knew it was where you are supposed to be. But we didn’t say anything to you. We had Southern Miss the next day and wanted to think things through. You had a straight face and smiled occasionally, but we didn’t know what you were thinking. Everything with Ole Miss was refreshing with how they went about it.

We don’t put pressure on you to call us constantly, but we catch up, and we appreciate your texts to ask about things. We cherish those weekly calls when we go in the living room and put you on speakerphone so everyone can hear. Dad isn’t good at taking notes, and Mom has 100 questions. We want you to explore, and we know the staff has you set up for success. We feel you’re prepared for this since you’ve done your own laundry since ninth grade and we made sure you got your oil changed and took care of things as you needed them.

We’re behind you every step of the way and excited to see you pursuing what you’ve worked so hard to achieve. Your sister will still close her eyes when you’re playing because she’s so nervous, and we’ll wait on your return home to see you. You’re a great brother, playing around with Jaylen or practicing volleyball with Nyah in the yard. She looks up to you so much.

Your dad fell in love with baseball because of the joy it brings you. The hours of practicing with you and researching how to make you better are fond memories and evidence of the work you put in. You didn’t have a dad who played baseball and knew how to make you better, but you had a dad who loved and believed in you enough to teach himself in order to help you develop. And you took it from there. You did it. Now it’s time to enjoy it. And keep working toward the next goal.

Be proud of your success and keep at it.

Love,

Mom and Dad