I’m sure this time last year Trey Watkins and Joey Bourgeois were hoping to have a good first year of college baseball. They were both at LSU-Eunice, fresh off stellar high school careers in the River Parishes.

Meanwhile, in Baton Rouge, LSU coach Paul Mainieri had a big time class of recruits lined up for 2010 and a national championship season just ahead of him.

Watkins and Bourgeois made the most of their opportunities and had tremendous freshman seasons. And as Mainieri had probably known would happen, several of LSU’s key recruits were drafted and turned pro rather than going to college as planned.

So what was Mainieri to do? He went down the interstate a ways and, just before school started in August, signed Watkins and Bourgeois to his team.

Maybe it was jitters, but I’m sure Trey Watkins’ Tiger career didn’t start as he’d hoped. On opening night last Friday, he dropped a fly ball in left field. But he told his coach he was OK. And as the game went on, the young Montz resident was the talk of Alex Box.

By the end of the opening weekend series against Centenary, Mainieri had said Watkins was the best leadoff hitter he’d ever coached.

Wow!

I wasn’t in the Box Friday night, but I heard all about Watkins on the drive over to Baton Rouge on Saturday. On Friday he was one-for-two with three runs scored (LSU won, 5-4). On Saturday, in a 25-8 LSU blowout, he was two-for-five with four runs scored. (He also had two put outs, not routine, but he made them look like it.)

I’ve been around LSU baseball a long time — I was a student worker for Skip Bertman in the 80s — and I quickly realized he’s one of the fastest players I’ve seen in a Tiger uniform.

I didn’t go back to the Box Sunday, so I missed Bourgeois’ first trip to the mound. Mainieri said he was looking for his third starter, and from what I hear the Paulina resident didn’t disappoint.

Six innings pitched. Four hits, no runs, no walks and seven strikeouts. LSU won, 4-0.

The River Parishes have been a place major college coaches have frequented for many years. But it seems most of the major signings have been in football, and it’s great to see two local athletes now starring on the major college baseball stage.

I’m looking forward to following these guys as the season moves forward. When LSU won the College World Series last year, we had no idea Watkins and Bourgeois would be major factors in the team’s chase for a repeat in 2010.

Good luck, Trey and Joey!

Sandy Cunningham is publisher of L’Observateur. She can be reached at sandy.cunningham@wickcommunicaions.com�