BY DAVID FOLSE II

Sports Editor

BOUTTE-It seems like wherever he goes, winning baseball follows Frank Cazeaux.

First at Rummel, now at Hahnville.

With district 6-5A action winding down, Cazeaux has his Hahnville Tigers playing some of the best baseball in the state. Hahnville is 23-3 on the season and defeated arch-rival Destrehan for the second time Saturday afternoon 2-1 in a thrilling game.

“Jordan Brown, Steven Burns along with their teammate made three of the best defensive plays I have ever seen against Destrehan,” the first-year head coach said. “Honestly, you don’t see those plays on the college level.

“Those plays saved us because if we don’t make those plays, we lose.”

Despite being in only his first year at Hahnville, Cazeaux said the Tigers have always had a strong program.

“Hahnville has always been competitive in baseball,” Cazeaux said. “They have always been good. My job is to make them better, to give them some sense of pride out there. I see that happening with these kids.

“I approach them and let them know up front that hey we are just as good as everyone else. Baseball is a mental game. If you can prepare them to play mentally, then you have a great chance.”

He also credits his veteran team with maturing quickly as the season progressed.

“I wouldn’t say that we are ahead of schedule,” Cazeaux said. “I know this is a really good group of kids and particularly a real good group of seniors. These guys have been looking forward to their senior year since they were freshmen. I just happened to walk in. I just have to dress them up a little bit, that’s all.”

With the playoffs quickly approaching, Cazeaux’s most difficult challenge may be preparing his team and teaching them that they can be beaten on any given day.

“We were beaten Friday night in a non-district game by Parkview Baptist,” Cazeaux said. “We threw some guys that needed some work and they threw their ace and we got beat pretty handily. If you look at past performances, Hahnville does well in district and then go to the first or second round of the playoffs and get beat.

“I have to prepare them to understand that on any given day you can get beat. What we try to do is tell them that we are going to play hard on every single pitch.”