What is it like to be a baseball player from Texas, playing for a team in Louisiana, against a bunch of teams from Texas?
Ask Baton Rouge Rougarou pitcher Tristan Perry. He’ll tell you it is a little weird.
But it seems to be working out.
Perry was named the Texas Collegiate League’s Pitcher of the Week on July 14 for his performance during a challenging week for the Rougarou. The right-handed pitcher threw seven innings, allowing no runs, two kids and striking out six.
“I was excited,” the second-year Rougarou player said. “I’d never gotten it before.”
As a returning Rougarou, Perry is working to sharpen his skills for his final collegiate year at the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma. He has made seven appearances this summer, throwing 24 2/3 innings with a 2.91 ERA and 22 strikeouts.
“Tristan is a great guy that always competes for the team and does his thing,” Rougarou coach Stephen Klein said. “He is a great player that pounds the strike zone and gets outs using his good stuff.”
As a Drover, he has made 40 appearances, pitching 51.1 innings with a 5.79 earned run average and 46 strikeouts. This season he helped his team win its first NAIA Sooner Athletic Conference title since 2021.
Perry was under the dogpile for the celebration, but not on the mound – even though he was pitching.
“We were up by 10 and I just needed to get three outs,” he said. “As soon as I went out to the mound, it just starting pouring. The mound got all muddy and my shoes were just covered in mud.”
After delays and attempts to work the mound didn’t accomplish much, the umpires called the game after six innings with the Drovers up 11-1.
“The other team wasn’t too happy,” he said.
Now Perry is hoping to help the Rougarou win its first championship. The team has already won the first half of the TCL Louisiana Division. But over the last few days, Baton Rouge has struggled at times.
After a hot start that included a 12-game winning streak, the Rougarou is 5-5 over its last 10 games and just dropped two on the road in Victoria. The Rougarou is now 26-9.
“That’s just switching up the lineup and bringing new guys in,” Perry said. “We’ll figure it out.”
Perry is pretty good at figuring things out. When he’s not playing baseball, he enjoys going to various escape rooms throughout the area. He also just made his very first trip to the big city of New Orleans recently.
“It was an experience,” he said.
By Lori Lyons, Rougarou Writer
Photo by Carla Walker