Naquin has high hopes for final prep season

Tyler Naquin arrived at South Terrebonne as an up and coming first baseman.

He’s going to leave the program as one of the most highly touted pitchers in school history.

With baseball just gearing up around the Tri-parish area, the Gators lefthander is getting ready for what he hopes will be another dominant season on the hill.

“I’m just trying to build on something and get ready for the year,” Naquin said. “I’m just trying to find my spots more and work on a few things to make me a better pitcher.”

The road to becoming a pitcher for Naquin wasn’t as smooth a ride as one might think for someone who watches the prospect’s fluid left-handed delivery.

Naquin started playing baseball from the earliest of ages, but grew up across the diamond from the mound as a first baseman.

“I actually wasn’t ever a pitcher growing up,” Naquin said. “I was always a first baseman. I never really pitched much unless I was messing around in the back yard.”

Despite a decorated little league and pony baseball career in the infield, Naquin never really looked the part of a traditional first baseman, having a more slender and speedy frame compared to most first basemen’s brute force and thick builds.

It was because of that discrepancy that South Terrebonne baseball coach Nathan Cotten asked Naquin to try his luck in the outfield and on the mound when he arrived as a freshman.

It was a transition that both coach and player admit was bumpy at first.

“It definitely wasn’t easy at first, because I had problems throwing strikes all of the time,” Naquin said. “I could throw hard, but not always straight.”

“He was a little wild and a little raw, especially at first,” Cotten added. “But you ask why we moved him from first base to outfield and to the mound and it’s because, one, he has a strong arm. And we moved him to the outfield because he could run. But basically, he’s learned a lot of control and I think that’s with mechanics. We’ve had guys help him in the pen and he’s worked really hard at it and his arm continues to get stronger and he’s really made it work for him.”

“Making it work” would probably be an understatement.

After pitching sporadically as a freshman and sophomore, Naquin blossomed into an elite performer in his junior season, racking up several wins for the Gators, including a no-hit performance against Central Lafourche.

Oh yeah, he pitched in that game with a broken jaw and had his mouth wired shut for the duration of that game.

Cotten said that work ethic and toughness is all what’s enabled Naquin to achieve success in such a short lifespan as a pitcher.

The coach also added that Naquin is one of the Gators’ most liked players on the team and throughout the school.

“That toughness, that’s something you can’t really ask for a player to do,” Cotten said. “It’s more of a thing where you say, ‘If you can, here’s the ball.’ But he took it and he ran with it and I can’t say enough about the commitment Tyler and, really anyone, shows when you play injured like that and still go out there. And just playing is one thing, not to mention being successful, which he was in that particular stretch when he had that injury.”

From the junior success has come recognition, as following last season, Naquin was offered a scholarship by Nicholls State University – an offer he accepted last November.

Naquin said he could have fielded other offers, but decided to commit early because he wanted to focus on his current goal at hand – finishing the job he’s started with South Terrebonne.

“I wanted to get that out of the way, so I could worry about winning,” Naquin said. “So I could worry about finishing here strong.”

Finishing strong at South Terrebonne is the goal, so he can head to Thibodaux with momentum on his side.

When he gets there, the sky is the limit, according to Cotten.

Because after all, Naquin has just been pitching for just a few years.

The coach said there’s no telling how good Naquin might be as he progresses and learns a few more tricks of trade.

“When he gets to Nicholls, I think they are going to be able to increase his velocity even more and I know he’ll be in the weight room even more and I’m sure they’ll be able to fine tune his mechanics even greater,” Cotten said. “He has some room to grow, some room to put some meat on his bones. … I think Nicholls is excited about him and I think he’s going to excel when he gets over there.”

South Terrebonne senior pitcher Tyler Naquin throws a pitch during a game last season. Naquin is hoping to build on a strong junior season that earned the lefty a scholarship offer to Nicholls State University – an offer he accepted. CASEY GISCLAIR