Nicholls baseball held its annual First Pitch Banquet Feb. 9, featuring guest speaker Skip Bertman.
The event allowed the hundreds in attendance to bid on auction items and memorabilia in support of Colonel baseball. Prior to the banquet, former Nicholls baseball players faced off against the current squad at Didier Field for the Alumni game.
“We had a great turnout, with about 70 or 80 former Nicholls players,” head coach Seth Thibodeaux said. “Our guys had a great time.”
Aside from fundraising, the event allows the team to introduce itself to fans as the season kicks off.
Bertman, former LSU baseball coach and athletic director, led his team to five national champions as head coach. As athletic director, Bertman saw three LSU teams win national championships in the same season. Bertman built up a program from the ground up at a time when baseball was far from a top priority at the university.
“You know when I started around 1983, there wasn’t any baseball,” Bertman said. “There were very few teams, and there weren’t many people taking baseball seriously.”
One way Bertman was able to build up his team was facing off against other Louisiana schools, including Nicholls.
“One of the things I found that worked was bringing LSU to all of the other teams, then bringing all the teams back to LSU,” Bertman said. “Playing in state created a lot of rivalries and built the game itself.”
Reminiscing about his past games against Nicholls, Bertman remembered former Colonel and Major League player Darryl Hamilton. Now retired, Bertman looks at events like the First Pitch Banquet as a way to give back to Louisiana college baseball.
“One school was, of course, Nicholls State,” Bertman said. “That was with coach Mike Knight, and Darryl Hamilton was one of the better players I have ever seen, so we had a wonderful time.”
According to Bertman, there are some obstacles for smaller schools like Nicholls compared to larger institutions.
“A bigger school like LSU has great resources financially within the athletic department because they have a huge football stadium that crams the people in at high prices,” Bertman said. “A lot of that money goes to baseball, so they can make some money. I think that is number one. You can’t do that at a smaller school.”
The College Baseball Hall of Famer noted that while the odds might seem to be against smaller schools like Nicholls, there are ways to be successful without the support of a powerhouse football team.
“What you can do is teach the kids to believe,” Bertman said. “ULL did, and they went to the World Series. UNO and Tulane have also been to the (College) World Series. I think Nicholls, or any team in the Southland, could do that.”
The Colonels’ record has steadily improved since Thibodeaux took over as head coach.
“You have to be your own sports information director,” Bertman said. “You have to be your own publicity department. You have to reach out to the community and you have to keep them coming. I think Nicholls has a real good chance. Seth [Thibodeaux] is an excellent coach.”