Rougarou catcher Blaise Priester is having a storybook summer.
The second-year Rougarou player, who came from just a short hop down the Interstate in Denham Springs and played this year at LSU, is blazing his way through the Texas Collegiate League and just earned Raising Cane’s Player of the Week honors after hitting .412 with eight runs, 10 RBIs, three doubles and a home run.
Priester is leading the league in home runs with four, and in runs-batted-in with 31. He’s hitting .263 with 23 runs and five doubles, including two he hit Sunday night in a 6-2 win against Seguin.
“Everything is starting to click now,” he said.
“Blaise has been grinding his tail off these last couple of weeks, working the counts and winning a lot of at-bats and coming up with a lot of clutch hits,” Rougarou coach Stephen Klein said.
Sunday’s doubleheader sweep was the 23rd and 24th wins of the season for the Rougarou, who are having a storybook season of their own. They had the best start in franchise history and went on a 12-game win streak.
Baton Rouge has already won the first half Louisiana Division championship, securing a home playoff berth, and is in the lead for the second half.
Priester said he’s having a great time in his second season as a Rougarou.
“Summer ball is fun,” Priester said. “I think the reason we’re winning so much is, as a team, we’re a lot of hometown kids, a lot of kids that grew up in Denham, Central, Baton Rouge. We all played together, played against each other growing up. We’ve always been really tight and I think that has to do with a lot of our success.”
The Rougarou have become the comeback kids this summer, frequently rallying in the later innings to win. Priester said that has been fun to watch as well.
“It doesn’t matter whether we’re up or down, we play scrappy hard-nosed baseball,” Priester said. “And whether we’re up 10, down 10, we always feel like there’s a chance we can win. Our lineup is the best guys. Even when we’re subbing people in and out of the lineup, there’s always a chance that we can win just because we play scrappy hard-nosed baseball.”
Priester said he took a different approach to baseball this summer, which has had a positive effect on his game.
“I really started to simplify things and not trying to do too much in the box,” Priester said. “I’m allowing the game to come to me. Having people getting on base for you and understanding that, even if I go 0-for-3, we still have a chance to win. That really took a lot of pressure off me so I don’t feel like I have all the pressure on me. My success has really come from the team. I don’t have to feel like the whole team is on my shoulders. It really is a fun time when that’s the case.”
It's been a quite a story for the Live Oak graduate, who committed to LSU out of high school. Things didn’t go exactly as he planned, however, so he transferred to Meridian Community College. Over two seasons Priester hit .368 with 111 hits, 86 runs, 31 doubles, 24 home runs and 101 RBIs.
“I had probably the best two years of my life there,” Priester said. “It’s a great JUCO.”
Riding that success, he returned to LSU. But a slow start put him behind and he was never really able to catch up to earn a lot of playing time.
“I played 13 innings behind the dish this past season -- not really what I wanted, but it happens ,” Priester said. “That’s how baseball goes. If you don’t get off to the hot start, it’s kind of hard to crawl your way back.”
Opting to start summer ball to work on his game, Priester skipped the trip to Omaha and rooted for the Tigers from back home in Baton Rouge.
“Pretty sure I still get a ring though,” he said.
When the portal opened, Priester hopped in and landed at another storied program – Southeastern Louisiana University.
“I went on a visit to Southeastern and pretty sure the next day I committed to play ball there,” he said. “It’s the best fit for me. I’ve known the coaches for a while. I have a good history with them. They’re gritty and that’s the kind of baseball I like. Being a junior college kid – as we would say, gritty over pretty.”
As he prepares for the final chapter of his baseball story and a move to new digs in Hammond, Priester is optimistic.
“My story, yeah it goes all over the place,” he said. “But hopefully I can finally write a conclusion at Southeastern.”
By Lori Lyons, Rougarou Writer
Photos by Carla Walker