Leroy McDonald earned the distinction of being a "first" for Grand Canyon. He was GCU baseball's first in a long list of players to be selected in Major League Baseball's annual free agent draft. A four-year letterwinner for GCU, McDonald led the 'Lopes to their first ever NAIA baseball College World Series appearance. In 1969, he was selected as a First Team NAIA All-American while hitting .362 for the year. A career .311 hitter during the "wood bat" era of college baseball, he fielded .910 and teams on which he played posted an overall record of 123-54 over four seasons.