When Rougarou designated hitter Jacob Keys led off the seventh inning with a solo home run against the Lake Charles Gumbeaux Gators Friday night at Pete Goldsby Field, it was a moment to remember.
The dinger was the first of the season for the 2026 Rougarou, and it came at a critical moment as the team trailed 7-4 and needed a spark.
Keys’ solo shot was it as the team added one more run in the inning then three more in the bottom of the eighth on the way to a 9-8 win.
But for the young man from Brandon, Miss., who had to sit out all of his spring season at Southeastern Louisiana University following a procedure to repair a ruptured disc in his back, it was everything.
“Oh, it was awesome,” Keys said. “It was emotional. I didn’t make too much out of it. I was the one up there that swung the bat and everybody’s going to say that I was the one who sparked it, but really it was all of us. We got beat bad the night before and we were in kind of a similar situation.”
But it was a long time coming.
Keys was a standout player in Mississippi, earning All-State honors and signing with Southern Miss in 2024. He moved over to Pearl River in 2025, hitting .333 with a .490 0n-base percentage. He hit 17 doubles and 10 home runs, drove in 50 runs and scored 73 – the third most in a season in program history.
But after signing with Southeastern, all Keys could do was sit and watch as his new Lions teammates competed for the Southland Conference regular season championship.
“It wasn’t easy,” he said. “It was a season of highs and lows, (of) doubt. It’s something that you have to show up against every day and win that battle every day. Whether it’s (physical therapy) or going for just a mile walk or just stretch. I just had to show up and do those things every day.”
Now Keys is working hard to get back to full strength as a part time catcher and designated hitter for the Rougarou. In his first week back in action he hit .350 with six RBIs, one double and one home run. He was the catcher in Sunday night’s 5-4 comeback win over the Gumbeaux Gators and helped spark another rally with a one-out double in the bottom of the eighth inning. He was the tying run when Trip Dobson hit his 2-run homer into the trees to give the Rougarou the 5-4 lead.
“It was freaking awesome,” Keys said. “It was kind of like the same situation. I look up and I’m rounding the bases when he hit it and I didn’t even realize it was the bottom of the eighth and we only need three outs to win it. We’re just playing the game until the bell rings. That’s kind of what makes it fun.
“The thing that’s really cool about this team is, when we get down nobody freaks out. We just kind of stay the course. We’re all level-headed. Nobody gets upset. We just play the game and do the things we need to do. I think that’s a good recipe for winning a lot of games.”
Rougarou skipper Mike Forbes is happy to have him.
“He stepped in and he is such a professional about how he goes about his business every day” Forbes said. “You can tell he’s a leader. He’s just a big physical presence that you love having on the field, you love having behind the plate. He’s going to lead by example. He’s a good kid overall, always got a smile on his face and always doing the right thing. And that’s going to pay dividends for him as he goes on throughout his career.”
By Lori Lyons, Rougarou writer