Sorrento man dies when tractor rear-ended

TheAdvocate.com
Advocate River parishes bureau
Mar 16, 2010

SORRENTO — A former minor league baseball player and Sorrento-area community figure died after his tractor was rear-ended on La. 22 westbound, police and others said.

Carlton J. “Blackie” LeBlanc Sr., 72, of Sorrento, was driving on La. 22 between Guidry Street and River Parishes Community College when his John Deere 790 tractor was struck at 4:30 p.m. Friday, Sorrento Assistant Police Chief Billy Ballard said Tuesday.

The driver of the vehicle that struck the tractor, Joseph Allen Sherman, 34, of Donaldsonville, was arrested and booked Friday with a single count of negligent homicide, Ballard said.

According to Baseball-Reference.com, LeBlanc was a right-handed pitcher in 1957 and 1958 for two Detroit Tigers minor league teams; the Montgomery, Ala., Rebels and the Valdosta, Ga., Tigers.