2015 Perfect Game High School Baseball Preview Index
No. 3 St. Thomas More Cougars (Lafayette, La.)
State Association/League: Louisiana High School Athletic Association (LHSAA) Class 4A/4A District 5
Head Coach: Gary Perkins (6th season as head coach)
2014 Results: 31-4 overall record; 12-0 District 5 Champion/LHSAA Class 4A State Champion
Key Losses: C/1B Chase Vallot (MLB draft 1st-round comp Kansas City Royals); OF/RHP Orynn Vellion (Louisiana-Lafayette); OF/RHP Wyatt Marks (Louisiana-Lafayette); RHP Sam Houston; 2B Clay Harst
Top Returning Players: Sr. LHP Hogan Harris (Louisiana-Lafayette); Sr. LHP/OF Brennan Breaux (Louisiana State); Sr. SS O’Neal Lochridge (Louisiana State); Jr. 3B/RHP Mason Templet (Louisiana State); Jr. C/3B Christian Leonard
Notable Matchups: Feb. 26-28 vs. WGNO Classic, New Orleans, Chalmette, La.; March 12-14 vs. Marucci Tournament, Lake Charles, La.; March 19-21 vs. Atchafalaya Challenge, Lafayette, La.; March 24-April 25 vs. LHSAA District 5.
WHEN THE ST. THOMAS MORE COUGARS ROLLED INTO THEIR SECOND STRAIGHT LHSAA Class 4A state championship game last May, they did it riding on the backs of at least six senior starters, one of which wound up being a first-round compensation pick in the 2014 MLB First-Year Player Draft.
The Cougars crushed Neville, 13-0, in the 2014 4A state championship game to complete an impressive 31-5 campaign. They had finished 29-5 in 2013 after losing to Lutcher in the state final by a 4-0 count.
It’s been a terrific two-year run, and even though more than a half of dozen regulars from those two state finalists have now moved on, veteran head coach Gary Perkins is confident he has enough studs in the stable to keep the STM baseball program among not only the best in Louisiana, but the among the best in the country.
Buoyed by the return of three seniors and a pair of juniors that contributed at a high level on last year’s championship team, the Cougars begin the 2015 season holding down the No. 3 spot in the Perfect Game Preseason National High School Top-50 Rankings.
“We’ve got a nucleus of guys who had the opportunity to play on that state championship team last year; got a lot of playing time,” Perkins told PG during a telephone interview this week. “We have so many kids that are going to the next level to play, mainly in some pretty strong D-I conferences like the Southeastern Conference and the Sun Belt, and I really do believe that those kids know they’ve got to keep their game going.”
This year’s top seniors are left-handed pitcher Hogan Harris, left-hander/outfielder Brennan Breaux and shortstop O’Neal Lochridge. Harris, a University of Louisiana-Lafayette signee, was a 2014 PG All-American and a standout at the 2014 PG National Showcase, and Breaux (a top-500 prospect) and Lochridge (No. 141) – both of whom have signed with Louisiana State – also stood out at the PG National. All three were members of the Marucci Elite team that won last year’s 17u PG Super25 National Championship.
Harris, a 6-foot-2, 195-pound No. 62-ranked lefty whose fastball touched 94 mph at both the PG National and the PG All-American Classic, was sidelined by injury most of last spring, but still finished 3-0 with a 0.84 ERA, allowing two earned runs on four hits while striking out 31 and walking 11 in 16 2/3 innings. He struggled with his control in one inning of work at the PG A-A Classic, but now that he is 100 percent healthy Perkins expects him to stay focused on the strike zone this spring.
“I’m going to ask (Harris) to throw strikes, first of all,” Perkins said of his ace. “At this program, we do not abuse our pitchers. If he came to me and told me that he was a little tight I would just yank him and put somebody else in. But I am going to ask him to show his true colors – he’s got a nice left arm and I want him to advertise that. … I’m just going to ask him to try to not overachieve, but to just let the game come to him and show his true talents.
PG All-American lefthander Hogan Harris will be the staff ace for the No. 3-ranked St. Thomas More Cougars this season (photo: Paul Kieu)
“I’m hoping he goes out there and competes, but the main thing is to have fun – the love of the game, that type of thing. I’m thinking he will do that because right now he’s a lot of fun to be around.”
Lochridge and Breaux were both terrific at the plate for Perkins last season. Lochridge hit .383 (41-for-107) with 13 doubles, seven home runs, 48 RBI and 36 runs; Breaux was right behind at .379 (39-for-103) with seven doubles, two triples, 15 RBI and 50 runs. Breaux was 4-2 with a 1.08 ERA on the mound, allowing six earned runs on 20 hits in 39 innings with 68 strikeouts and 16 walks.
Third baseman/right-hander Mason Templet (No. 65 class of ’16) and catcher/third baseman Christian Leonard (No. 417) are the top juniors. Templet, an LSU commit, hit .442 (42-for-95) with four doubles, a triple, three home runs, 37 RBI and 24 runs; Leonard, who is uncommitted, hit .360 (18-for-50) with three doubles, a triple, two home runs, 17 RBI and 15 runs.
“I think all of these guys have team goals and obviously they have individual goals,” Perkins said. “It’s easy to say that they just won state and they can rock back on their heels this year but I just think there’s too much to prove as far as they’re ability to play, especially those that already have been asked to play at the next level.”
Those are the seniors like Harris, Breaux and Lochridge who have already signed with prestigious D-I programs and now must be prepared to play in front of large contingents of MLB scouts this spring. The top juniors like Templet and Leonard also know they must continue to prove themselves day-in and day-out.
“Those cats are unbelievable,” Perkins said of his juniors. “Leonard is already twice as good as he was last year and he was outstanding last year. Those two kids are really, really quality.”
He also pointed to a couple of sophomore left-handers – Ethan Hines and Alex Hannie – who he said were poised to make impressions this spring.
It’s not as if Perkins doesn’t have some big shoes to fill, including a pair behind the plate and two pairs on the mound.
2013 Perfect Game All-American and 2013 PG National Showcase Rawlings Home Run Challenge winner Chase Vallot signed with the Kansas City Royals after being selected with the 40th overall pick in the 2013 MLB June Amateur First-Year Player Draft. He was named the Louisiana Gatorade Player of the Year after a senior year in which he hit .545 with 13 home runs, 15 doubles, one triple and 60 RBI.
Vallot was a prospect that had to prove himself throughout his career at STM, sharing playing time as a sophomore before starting to gain steam during his junior year. It was at that time that he discovered his passion for the sport and put in the hard work necessary to win championships at the high school level and then move onto the next level – in his case, the minor leagues.
“He just spent tremendous hours working on his game, mostly in the strength area,” Perkins said. “Losing a guy like that – I’m not going to say a big blow – but that’s some big shoes to fill. Will be able to find a catcher this that is going to (play) at his level? The answer to that is ‘No.’ But maybe he will do an adequate job behind the plate and a couple of other guys will step in … and hopefully they can fill at least one of his shoes.”
The Cougars also graduated pitchers Sam Houston and Wyatt Marks who combined for 106 2/3 innings and 17 wins – 55 percent of the Cougars’ 2014 total – with 139 strikeouts and a combined ERA of 0.86. Houston was 9-0 with a 1.00 ERA and 52 strikeouts in 42 innings and Marks went 8-1 with a 0.76 ERA 87 K’s in 64 2/3 innings.
Perkins describes Lafayette as a “real good baseball town” that has produced some outstanding ballplayers through the years, including former big-leaguers Ron Guidry, Paul Bako, Lance Cormier and Gil Meche; hundreds of other Lafayette natives moved on to the college level.
“I find that a lot of the coaches in this are all have passion for the game and work hard at the game,” he said. “It just seems like when you open the gates every year and these little freshmen come running up the sidewalk to join the baseball program there are always three, four, five or six of them that are really outstanding.”
The influence of the LSU Tigers’ and UL Ragin’ Cajuns’ programs cannot be discounted. The U. of Louisiana is located right Lafayette and LSU in Baton Rouge is only about 45 minutes right down the road. Both programs are among the best in their respective leagues – the Southeastern and Sun Belt conferences, respectively – and the high school players feed off that competitiveness.
“When they’re sitting here as freshmen watching those two teams play, it doesn’t take long for them to fall in love and say that’s what I want to do, play college baseball,” Perkins said.
With all that and more in front of them, yet another reason the STM players are looking forward to this season is because Perkins has put together an extremely competitive schedule that includes four non-district tournaments in late February and on into March. The country’s top prospects, like several on the Cougars’ roster, thrives on facing such high-level, national competition.
Perkins said the team’s early practice sessions have been very business-like and the players who were on the junior varsity a year ago have already begun showing sustained growth in their games.
“I’m not going to say it’s just reload, I can’t go that route, but I do know that we have a pretty solid program,” he said. “It’s not a factory over here. It’s just when kids come here to play baseball … when they get out there they pretty much know it’s going to be a business approach. They’re going to work hard to make this the best possible team in 2015 that they possibly can.”