Eula Josephine Lagrange Larose
April 28, 2008
Adam "T-Dent" LaCoste
April 30, 2008
Rain might have cancelled Saturday’s game, but there was just enough of a break from the bad weather for Nicholls State University to honor its greatest baseball moment.
Twelve players and coaches from the 1998 Southland Conference Tournament championship team braved the elements for a pre-game ceremony at Ray E. Didier Field.
“It’s been 10 years and this was a special group,” said Jim Pizzolatto, Colonels head coach that season, “and it’s truly nice to see everyone and their families.”
Besides Pizzolatto, attendees included pitchers Shane Landry, Ben Thompson, and Cody Arcement, who was First Team All-Southland Conference in 1998; catchers Blake Willis and Corey Berner; outfielder Jeff Leonard; infielders Brandon Vasconcellous, Jacques Jobert and Scott Duplantis, who was named tournament MVP; student coach Marc Gonzales; and student trainer Jerry Blackwell.
After the ceremony, everyone feasted on crawfish, corn on the cob and cake.
The 1998 team overcame a slow start and a 6-9 conference record to win nine of its last 13 games, including 7-2 in SLC play, to make the conference tournament.
“One night, all the guys got together in somebody’s apartment, and we talked about what we needed to do as a team and put it all together,” said Thompson, a Houma native and Vandebilt graduate, who was an 0-4 freshman pitcher that season.
During the May 13-16 tournament in Shreveport, the Colonels won four straight games, including a thrilling 5-4 championship game over the Northwestern St. Demons.
“We got hot at the right time,” said Vasconcellous, who transferred from Glendale Community College in Arizona that season. “That’s pretty much key in any sport. It doesn’t matter what your record is, it’s when you get hot.”
The win gave Nicholls its first and only bid to the 64-team NCAA Division I Baseball Championship tournament.
In the opening game of the regionals, Nicholls was matched against two-time defending national champions LSU at Alex Box Stadium.
“Going into the regionals, we weren’t intimidated,” said Gonzales.
Maybe not, but the Colonels lack of big-game experience showed early.
“We had the bases loaded in the first inning and didn’t score, and they had the bases loaded in the first inning,” said Gonzales. “We got two outs and we were saying to ourselves, ‘If we can get out of this inning, it’s gonna be a fun ballgame.’ The next LSU batter hit a grand slam.”
The Colonels lost 18-4 to LSU in the championship game but fought hard to the end.
“We tried to compete, but they had more guns than we had,” said Pizzolatto. “Our team knows that, but we went in there and competed.
The next day, “Harvard on the Bayou” met the real Harvard on the diamond. The Colonels lost 5-4 in 10 innings and was eliminated from the tournament.
“Getting the experience of playing in a big atmosphere like that, in Alex Box Stadium, it was probably one of the best experiences we had,” said Vasconcellous.
Some of the players from that squad still live in the Tri-parishes today.
Gonzales is an assistant baseball coach for the Morgan City High School Tigers.
Thompson, whose younger brother Patrick is a senior on this year’s Nicholls’ team, lives in Thibodaux and is an insurance salesman for United National.
“I decided to stay local and keep it in the community,” he said.
For those involved, it seemed like only yesterday they were in uniform, playing a kid’s game and celebrating a magical journey no one expected.
“I told my wife on the way here, I didn’t realize it’s been 10 years,” said Gonzales. “Ten years goes by fast. It’s amazing how fast the memories come back. A lot of good memories.”
The 1998 team reunited Sunday included, from left, Brandon Vasconcellos, Jaques Jobert, Cody Arcement, Ben Thompson, Corey Berner, Jeff Leonard, Scott Duplantis, Marc Gonzales (holding trophy), Jim Pizzolatto, Blake Willis, Shane Landry and Jerry Blackwell. * Photo by KEYON JEFF
