Not very often does an incoming junior make an immediate impact for the Oakville American Legion baseball club.

Outfielder Grant Steiger not only has made an impression on this year’s team, he’s become a standout in the starting lineup. In fact, Steiger finished the 2009 season leading Oakville with a .364 batting average that included 15 RBIs.

Despite the fact Steiger is one of the younger players on this year’s team, Oakville head coach Matt Boyer believes the Mehlville Senior High School junior has led by example.

“When Grant’s on the field, he goes about his business the way a ballplayer should go about his business,” Boyer said. “He’s probably the best athlete on the team.”

Steiger’s baseball prowess was highlighted by his ability to make the transition from outfielder to catcher last spring for Mehlville, where he batted .350 with 15 RBIs. Steiger then had to make the transition from catcher back to outfielder for the American Legion season.

“It wasn’t really that hard,” Steiger said about returning to the outfield. “But going from outfielder to catcher was a big transition. You have to know where everyone has to be as well as play attention to every aspect of the game. During the first couple of games, the coaches gave me the calls (to the pitches), but after that, I started doing it all on my own.”

Steiger’s athletic accomplishments don’t just end on the baseball field, because he’s also successful on the basketball court.

Steiger joined the varsity boys’ basketball as a small forward and averaged 1.5 points and 3.3 rebounds per game in just eight games played last season.

“That was tough,” he recalled. “It took me a little while to adjust (to playing varsity), but you’ve just got to learn to keep up with them.”