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All it took was one batting practice session to lure E.D. White baseball standout Scottie Sanders to Southeastern Louisiana University.
The Cardinals’ slugger signed his National Letter of Intent with the Lions this week, choosing the program over a list of regional schools also interested in his services.
Sanders said he pulled the trigger because Hammond felt like home. But more importantly than it all, he said he liked the way he felt in the batting box at the Lions’ Pat Kenelly Diamond.
“I really just fell in love after my first BP there,” Sanders said this week. “It’s such a great hitter’s park. When you combine that with a great coaching staff and an all-around successful program, I just felt like it was the best place for me to continue my career into the next level of competition.”
Sanders’ path to college ball seems like a near-certainty on paper. But his position on the diamond isn’t what most might expect.
The Cardinals’ infielder is the son of former Nicholls pitcher Scott Sanders, who was a first-round pick in the 1990 MLB Draft and an eight-year veteran at the MLB level.
The father said that his son has pitching experience from his early days, but an early elbow injury forced him to become a fielder.
“Scottie is a hard worker. That’s what I love the most about him,” Scott Sanders said of his son. “Ever since he was 3-years-old, he was with me at the park. He was the kid pulling on my leg asking me if it was time to go out and play ball. Scottie has always been willing to work hard to better himself. If he took 50 swings, he wanted to keep pushing and take 100. If he took 100, he’d keep pushing and take 150. He’s a tireless worker, and we’re really proud of that.”
Scottie Sanders said a handful of programs in the Southland Conference offered him a scholarship to extend his career, a list that included Nicholls, McNeese State and Northwestern State.
His decision to choose the Lions over his father’s alma mater was one that was not as awkward as it may appear.
Scott Sanders said he encouraged his son to make his own decision throughout the entire process.
“I admire that he’s stepping out and carving his own path,” the father said. “He’s making things more difficult on himself, because going to Nicholls would have probably been the easy thing for him to do. But I told him to follow his heart. We believe that he did just that.”
The father said that Scottie carries a 4.2 GPA and is planning to major in Pre-Med while with the Lions.
The younger Sanders said his scholarship signing marked one of the high points of his life.
“It was completely a dream come true,” Scottie said. “I’ve been dreaming for my whole life to be able to follow my dad and push my career past the prep level. Now that it’s official, I’m just really happy and ready to get going.”
But the slugger said his first focus is on keeping E.D. White’s winning tradition alive in his senior season of play.
“We want to keep our tradition alive in winning the district championship,” he said. “If we can get our pitching in line, which I think we will, I think we can take that even deeper and push for state.
“That’s the goal, for sure. That’s what we aim to do. We want to win our last game of the season this year.”
E.D. White pitcher Scottie Sanders signs his National Letter of Intent with Southeastern Louisiana University. The dominant Cardinals pitcher will follow in his father’s footsteps to the next level of competition. Sanders’ father Scott, was an MLB pitcher.
