Gators baseball enjoys success

Just inches short: Colonels lose to SLC Champ in final seconds
March 19, 2014
Together, we can bring home $1 billion this March
March 19, 2014
Just inches short: Colonels lose to SLC Champ in final seconds
March 19, 2014
Together, we can bring home $1 billion this March
March 19, 2014

The South Terrebonne baseball team annually faces some of the toughest non-district competition in the region to begin the year.

It’s a tradition that dates back years, and second-year Gators coach Sham Gabehart is making sure his team is again plenty well-challenged right out of the gate.

South Terrebonne began the season with back-to-back games against tough Class 5A competition in Northshore and Slidell, losing both games by a combined score of 21-2. They would start the year 0-4 after falling to Class 4A Lakeshore and Pope John Paul, a 2A school.


Since then, however, the Gators have slowly begun to get on a bit of a roll. The team beat West St. John twice, H.L. Bourgeois, Terrebonne and Thomas Jefferson High to improve to 6-6 overall as they got set to enter District 7-4A play this week.

South Terrebonne players say they enjoy the challenges the difficult schedule presents.

“Every year it helps us get prepared for district and for the playoffs,” said senior catcher Matt Benoit. “We bounce back well, we play through things, and the only thing that can beat us is ourselves.”


Gabehart, a Kentucky native who took the South Terrebonne job two years ago, said facing tough competition is critical to a team’s success due to baseball being a mental game.

“You have moments where your emotions get elevated,” he said. “There’s an old saying that you have to learn to be comfortable while you’re uncomfortable, and in this game you’ve got to be able to do that. We try to let failure be an ally and an opportunity to learn rather than it be something we’re afraid of or run away from.”

South Terrebonne isn’t the only school that places an emphasis on tough non-district scheduling: Vandebilt Catholic, the Gators’ Class 7-4A rival, annually does the same thing.


Gabehart said it’s just part of the process.

“Obviously they (Vandebilt) are usually pretty talented and they’re kind of the frontrunner for district,” Gabehart said. “For us to be able to compete with those guys, we’ve got to be able to face good players like they do.”

But the Gators have become a frontrunner in their own right, too.


South Terrebonne is a school with a winning tradition and a history of strong baseball programs. They’ve made the state playoffs almost every year and in 2009 advanced to the quarterfinals of the state tournament.

Gabehart managed to tap into that winning past by reaching out to a former player recently. He brought in Mike Barba, a standout outfielder at South Terrebonne who went on to play college ball at Nicholls State, to serve as an assistant coach on this year’s team.

Barba played four years at South Terrebonne and was a key part of the 2009 team.


“We want guys to feel that responsibility of being successful, not just from the current team but those that have played in the past,” Gabehart said.

As for this year’s team, it may be too early in the season to identify the group’s strengths and weaknesses, but in a recent victory over Class 3A Thomas Jefferson High, the Gators proved they were capable of playing small ball with standout pitching and great defense.

In that game, they used a combination of both – along with some timely hitting – in a 5-0 win. Starting pitcher Drey Dupre pitched a complete-game one-hitter and senior shortstop Blake Pellegrin added a two-run triple to help the Gators defeat a previously unbeaten Jaguars team that began the year 6-0.  


“It’s different strokes for different folks and it depends on what day it is, but you always hope your pitching and defense are strong,” Gabehart said.

The Gators are replacing six seniors from last year’s team, and are led by four seniors this year: Pellegrin, Benoit, second baseman Joey Brunet and outfielder Jace Pinell.

Gabehart said each player brings something different to the table.


“Benoit is probably one of the better catch-and-throw catchers that I’ve been around,” he said. “He’s got a very good transfer. He doesn’t always show it, but when it’s on the line, he shows it very well. Hitting is a little hard on him because of where he is in the lineup, but he’s done a great job.

“Brunet is a kid that started working on his swing back in October. He’s been working on it a lot and that’s the culture you want. Pinell is a kid that runs very well and has really grown up in the outfield and made some great plays for us this season, and Pellegrin is one of the few guys who had experience pitching from last year. He’s not a strong kid but is a solid defensive guy who has learned how to compete and is a go-to guy.”

South Terrebonne is scheduled to begin district play at home Wednesday against Vandebilt Catholic.


Looking at the District 7-4A standings, the Terriers will likely be among the teams to beat in the quest for the district title.

The Terriers are 5-7 at press-time, but they have played one of the toughest schedules in Louisiana.

Assumption also figures to be a tough out in district play, owning a 7-4 record in pre-district play.


That mark includes victories against Central Lafourche and H.L. Bourgeois.

Matt Benoit