Many people think of guys like Dylan Crews, Paul Skenes, Tommy White when thinking of top players on this National Championship team. And rightfully so, but one of the heroes of this team was true freshman Gavin Guidry out of Barbe High School in Lake Charles, La.
Guidry coming out of high school was the top rated player in the state of Louisiana and No.65 overall nationally and the No.13 SS. He also had a Perfect Game grade of 10. Statistically, the numbers matched the rankings.
2022 Pitching Statistics: 8-0 Losses W/L Record, 5 Shut Outs, .16 ERA, 83 Strike Outs, 45 innings pitched
2022 Hitting Statistics: .422 Average, 5 Home Runs, 25 RBI,s .584 On Base % .689 Slugging % , 25 Stolen Bases
Guidry started the fall playing his shortstop position until injuries to the pitching staff put the Tigers in a bind and Guidry put his wants aside and did what was best for the team in focusing solely on pitching. A move that paid huge dividends and one might argue it was a championship winning decision.
Time and time again the Tigers were able to count on Guidry to come in as a dominant closer. Now Guidry isn't the guy who is going to blow it by you every time and hope you can't hit his fastball. You can tell he was truly developed during his days at Barbe to be a complete pitcher. His breaking pitches have some really good movement and as Guidry was heard saying on a live mic during the CWS when referring to his pitch " It's a ________hammer , a ________ hammer."
That fire he shows on the mound and looking back to my notes from my article i did on Guidry prior to getting to LSU is something Guidry alluded to when he said of himself "I’m someone who brings energy and plays hard all the time. I absolutely love competing and love the big moments. And I am someone who expects a lot from the people around me, I hate mediocrity."
On the season Guidry put a stat line that is even more impressive on paper than it was watching live. The talented freshman Pitched 28.2 innings and faced 126 batters and sat 42 of those batters down with strikeouts for an impressive K/9 rating of 13.4 which falls in the Top 10 Nationally and for reference Skenes had a K/9 rate of 15.33 and top in the nation . Whats most impressive in my eyes is when the lights were the brightest, so was Guidry. Once post season play started in Hoover,Gavin only allowed 1 walk the rest of the way while compiling 16 strikeouts. He wrapped up the season with an ERA of 3.77 and 3 saves to his credit.
Again, going back to my interview with this young man prior to getting to LSU and something he stated "I have always wanted to go to school at LSU and be like a legend kinda like Bregman is." Gavin will be going back to his shortstop, position next season and likely will still be called upon in a reliever/closer role next season as well. The same position Bregman played. Many who do not follow high school baseball may not realize just how great a shortstop this young man is. As big as the name Bregman is, it is east to see a path that Guidry is viewed in that same regard before he heads to the MLB.
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