For the love of the game: Former state champion still playing – thousands of miles away
December 13, 2017
Breakaway Barge
December 13, 2017
For most high school student-athletes, the opportunity to play college ball is a dream.
But when you get to do so with one of your best friends? That’s priceless.
Last week is one that the Brunet and Cantrelle families will remember for a long time, as a member of each family inked collegiate scholarships to play baseball at Nicholls.
To be a college-bound player is an honor. But for the signees, South Terrebonne infielder Connor Brunet and South Lafourche outfielder Austin Cantrelle, the day is even better because it means they’ll get to play together at the next level – something the two close friends said they set out to do throughout their recruitment.
“Every time Nicholls was brought up, we always discussed being able to play with each other for another four years and also rooming together,” Brunet said. “We just thought that’d be an awesome experience for the both of us.”
“We talked about this a lot,” Cantrelle said. “We would always say it would be awesome for us to stay close to home and play the game we love together and that finally came true for the both of us.”
For Brunet and Cantrelle, their friendship started on the diamond.
Both guys have excelled on baseball throughout their careers and they started playing travel ball together when they were 11.
Cantrelle said he and Brunet always “clicked” – in part because they’re similar in personality. The Tarpons outfielder said he and Brunet are both tough competitors who “hate to lose.”
“We always have each other’s back,” Cantrelle said. “And we are two of the most competitive people you will ever meet. We don’t like to lose at all.”
As the two boys got older, their level of play continued to grow and they’re now members of a travel team coached by LSU legend Ben McDonald.
Both players signed their scholarships on Monday at their respective campuses. McDonald attended each ceremony to show his support to the two players.
Brunet said the signing was an important day for both he and Cantrelle, but also for the families of the two players, who have intertwined and become close friends over the years, while following their careers.
“This was for our family,” Brunet said. “Because both of our families over the years grow together and we’re all very close.”
But the similarities between Brunet and Cantrelle don’t end just with baseball.
Both guys are also standout basketball guys who are trying to lead their teams to the playoffs before finishing their prep careers on the diamond.
Brunet is a dynamic standout guard for the Gators, who have won four games this season in Class 4A.
Brunet averaged more than 20 points per game and was one of the most prolific scorers in the area, despite facing double and triple teams in some games.
The senior guard conceded that South Terrebonne isn’t a basketball program that’s used of winning, but he said he wants to change that this season so that the team’s younger roster can carry that momentum into the future and start to build.
“My goal is to turn the South Terrebonne basketball program around as a senior and show the younger guys what it takes to win,” Brunet said. “I want them to see how much better it feels to win instead of lose, and the big goal Coach White and I set at the beginning of the year is to make the playoffs – something we haven’t done in a long time.”
For Cantrelle, the basketball success is a little bit more unexpected. He played the sport as a freshman, but then stopped his sophomore and junior seasons to heal a couple knee surgeries, while also focusing a little extra attention on baseball.
But as a senior, he came back to the team and has thrived, serving as one of the team’s leading contributors in almost every statistical category.
The Tarpons are 5-3 at press-time on Monday night and are trying to climb back into the postseason after missing the field last year.
“I wasn’t too sure of playing basketball ever again since I had the knee surgeries,” Cantrelle said. “But then my buddies Matt (Bellanger), Luke (Chiasson), Jon Jon (Vega) and Parker (Galjour) would always go play at the Cut Off Youth Center and it made me realize how much I missed the game. I knew we were losing some key players with Seth Borne graduating, so I told them I’d go and try my best to help them out. I realized that once I get out of high school, I’ll never play again, so I made the choice to play this year to help our team.”
But after basketball is baseball and both guys have eyes on the future, too.
Brunet said he can’t wait to take the field with the Gators, adding that he and his teammates believe they can chase the state championship.
“I don’t want to settle for anything else,” he said.
For Cantrelle, he said he wants to be First-Team All-District, then First-Team All-State, while trying to push the Tarpons as far into the postseason as he can.
Last year, South Lafourche made the playoffs for the first time in several seasons and the core of that team returns in 2018.
“I will do everything I can and I will be a leader on the team, because I know there will be a lot of people looking up at me,” Cantrelle said.
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