Eula Josephine Lagrange Larose
April 28, 2008
Adam "T-Dent" LaCoste
April 30, 2008
The first time Nicholls senior Amy Thibodaux batted in a softball game, she was an eight-year-old playing in the Gonzales Parish League.
She hit a home run in that first at-bat and has kept knocking them ever since.
Now the 22-year-old Prairieville native is on the cusp of Nicholls State history. With 12 homers for the season and 28 for her career, she is one away from breaking a single-season record (set by teammate Danielle Clayton in 2007) and tying the all-time mark.
Despite a 12-game, homerless drought in mid-season, causing her to be dropped from fourth to fifth in the lineup, Thibodaux continued to be a threat at the plate. This season she leads the team in RBIs (30), and slugging percentage (.610), is second in doubles and total bases (9 and 83 respectively) and third in batting average and on-base percentage (.279 and .396).
SportsNet caught up with Thibodaux to discuss her power hitting, future plans and what she will do if she sets a new Nicholls homerun record.
SportsNet: Were your parents or siblings into softball?
Amy Thibodaux: My mom swam in high school, and my dad played soccer. It was actually my older sisters (Randi and Christy) who played softball and, being the youngest, I always wanted to do what they did.
SN: Did you play other sports in high school?
AT: I played volleyball and soccer. My junior year, I stopped playing other sports because I got injured in a soccer game. So mom was like, ‘OK, you need to decide what you want to do. What sport you want to pursue in college?’ That was the point I realized I really loved softball. That’s what I want to use to get my degree.
SN: How were you recruited to Nicholls State?
AT: I was recruited by coach [Jenny] Parsons and the former coach, Phyllis Guidry. The summer-league team I played for, the Louisiana Patriots, is based in Central Louisiana. The coach there, Ben Guidry, is a really good coach, been coaching softball over 30 years at least. He’s the one who helped me figure out colleges. He brought me to college-exposure tournaments. Coach Parsons was just really cool, very personable. She’s just someone who you would want to be your friend. She made me want to come. And it’s just an hour from home. It’s nice down here; I really like it.
SN: Does your family see you play often?
AT: My parents are always at the games, especially my mom. I’d say about 85-95 percent of the games I played in college, they have been to. My parents really love to support and watch me play. So do my grandparents; they make the drive.
SN: You are one homerun away from tying the all-time homerun record for Nicholls softball. Have you always been a power hitter?
AT: It’s kind of surprising. The first time I came to bat in league ball, when I was eight-years-old, I hit a homerun, and I came back back to the dugout and the coach yells at me. I said, ‘What I do?’ He said, ‘You threw the bat.’ Ever since I was young, I was bigger than most of the girls. I hit my growth spurt early. So yeah, I hit hard. In high school, I changed from slow-pitch to fast-pitch. So I had to make the transition. Fortunately, my summer ball coach helped me with my swing. They swing rotational here (upward swing where the back shoulder is dropped and the bat is below the hands as it comes through the strike zone), so they helped me with the power swing for fast-pitch. I don’t consider myself a homerun hitter. I’m just all right.
SN: Do you go up to the plate thinking about crushing balls over the fence?
AT: No. I had this coach who always said, ‘Homeruns are accents. Don’t look for them. Go out and hit line drive, and if one goes over, you’re lucky.’
SN: What do you look for a pitch? High or low in the strike zone? Inside or outside of the plate?
AT: My first three years in college, everything went into left-center field, and I kind of liked the outside pitches. This year, I seem to hit the low inside pitches. I’m not real picky. If it looks good, I hit it.
SN: You lead the team in another stat: hit by pitch (8 this season). Does it hurt as bad as it looks?
AT: When it hits my arms, that’s what gets me. One of the hits they don’t have under hit-by-pitch is I fouled one off my face earlier this season. I still got a big lump under my eye. When you get hit on the elbow, on the funny bone, that hurts man.
SN: What degree will you graduate with in May, and what do you plan to do in the future?
AT: Marketing with a concentration in professional sales. Ever since I came to Nicholls, I wanted to do the Disney College Program because Disney owns ESPN. So I wanted to work for Disney in hopes of getting a marketing job through ESPN. So I have a job with Disney right now. I’m moving to Orlando two days after I graduate to start my job. Long-term I hope to work for ESPN.
SN: The Colonels enjoyed a recent winning spurt. Why is everything clicking?
AT: A lot of it is everybody finding their place. We have a bunch of new players that were key players this year and had some big spots to fill. Nicole [Smith] and Audrey [Wood] brought some big bats to the table. We picked up two great pitchers (Wood and Lacey Gros). Everyone’s finding their place in the rotation. I was moved down one spot in the lineup three weeks ago. Everybody gets moved around; you find out what works. We’ve been fortunate this year to have good pitching that keeps us in a lot of games. The defense has really improved this year too.
SN: If you set the new all-time homerun mark, are you going to do an on-field celebration?
AT: You know I was thinking the other day, the irony is that all of my career, I’ve been number 13. People say that’s an unlucky number, and 13 is the number I’m looking for right now. Thirteenth homer of the season. It’s kind of silly. As for celebrating, it will only be good if we win. It would be worthless if we lose. I hope it goes together hand-in-hand (winning and the record). It would be really exciting to leave something behind. It will be cool when it happens.
