From the Dugout with Tyler Watkins - Journal #2

Tyler Watkins

To get an inside look at what it is like to be a member of the 2011 Southeastern Louisiana University baseball team, ILB has asked senior RHP Tyler Watkins to write a weekly journal giving the Lion Nation a behind the scenes look at one of the top programs in the Southland Conference. To read all of Tyler's weekly journals you can click on his picture on the left menu.

Here is journal #2 for the 2011 season.


It’s been an exciting week in Hammond, America! From practicing in ice cold weather, to having our annual Pre-Season Banquet, to whipping up on some alumni, it has been yet another busy week as a Southeastern Louisiana University baseball player. While most of the nation was bundled up staying warm inside for the freakishly cold weather that came through, we were outside practicing in it (yikes!). Even though the weather was terrible and half of our bodies were frozen, we had a great practice and not one person complained about the elements. That’s probably because if we even hint to Coach Artigues that we are cold he comes up with some not so fun ways to warm us up real quick.

We had our annual Pre-Season Banquet on Friday and the turnout couldn’t have been better. Me, my family and 1B/OF/LHP/Ladiesman Trey Martin and his family sat so far back that we couldn’t even see what was going on! Thankfully we could hear everything because it would have been a shame if we didn’t hear outfielder Cass Hargis and utility player Josh Cryer give their speeches. The night ended with all the new Lion baseball players receiving their Lion4Life dog tags presented by this year’s senior class. The new Lions were proud and I’m pretty sure I saw RHP Ryan “Milldaddy” Milton shed a few tears of joy.

The Alumni game on Saturday went great. There was an impressive turnout of former Lions and current professional players ready to take on the 2011 team. The alumni gave a good effort, but they just couldn’t keep it close. We won in a convincing fashion scoring 15 runs to their 1. Even though the alumni lost big, they all seemed to have had a great time.

Well MANEiacs that was this week in a nutshell. The next time you hear from me I’ll be in Miami for opening weekend! Make sure you get your tickets and make the trip down to beautiful South Beach where you can get a nice tan and cheer on your favorite team like only the Lion Nation can. Now I’m about to head over to RHP’s Mat Cox, Joseph Koon, and 3B Johnny Pace’s apartment for a nice family meal.

GO GREEN

GO GOLD

GO LIONS

Tyler Watkins #27