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Baseball: Fontenot rewarded for patient approach

Kevin Foote, The Advertiser, June 3, 2016

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UL’s Kennon Fontenot rounds third base during the Cajuns’ regular season finale win over UL Monroe. Fontenot has overcome an early-season slump to enter the postseason as a starter again.(Photo: SCOTT CLAUSE/THE ADVERTISER)

Just try to imagine the confidence Kennon Fontenot had when he arrived on the UL campus for his freshman season prior to the Ragin’ Cajuns’ 2015 season.

He was coming off a storybook career with the Barbe Buccaneers in Lake Charles.

As a baseball player, he played a huge role in winning two Class 5A state championships, hitting .434 with 15 doubles, six homers, 52 RBIs, 44 runs and 31 stolen bases as a senior.

As a football player, he was one of the most prolific passers in Louisiana history and led the Bucs to the program’s first trip to the state finals in the Superdome.

Then just imagine how quickly things changed a year ago when Fontenot went into his sophomore season after a disappointing freshman campaign that saw him hit .179 with two RBIs and two runs scored in 19 games.

His freshman season did enjoy a nice finish with a pinch-hit RBI triple in game two of the Super Regional at LSU, but it certainly wasn’t what he had envisioned.

Ready to put his freshman season behind him, Fontenot got another chance to prove himself as the 2016 season began.

Six games into it, though, there were still no base hits to draw confidence from.

That first hit came on March 8 against Tulane, but after playing LSU on March 22, Fontenot was still hitting .091 in 22 at-bats.

He entered April hitting just .130 and his part in UL’s plans down the stretch appeared pretty uncertain.

Somehow, though, Fontenot just kept sawing wood.

According to UL coach Tony Robichaux, Fontenot never knocked on his door to complain, never blamed the hitting coach for his struggles and never waved the white flag of surrender.

“That’s why you have to work while you wait,” Robichaux said. “You may not be happy to get a rock in your shoe, but sometimes that calluses you for the walk you may have to take.

"God’s not punishing you. He’s giving you a gift that you need."

With teammates who supported him and a head coach that’s challenging him to “man up” by giving him examples in life after baseball that are much more challenging that starting out a season 0-for-16 at the plate, Fontenot fought the temptation to let frustration rule the day.

“I just kept working,” Fontenot said. “I just kept telling myself that I’m going to get another shot and I’ve got to get ready for it.”

And believe it or not, he even harkened back to his high school days, where apparently even an athlete of Fontenot’s stature had struggling stretches to learn from.

“(Barbe) coach Cecchini saw I was struggling (his freshman season) and pulled me aside and told me to stick with it,” Fontenot said. “I remembered those days and just tried to stay positive.”

April didn’t give Fontenot much more to hang his hat on, but there were signs. He started the weekend series at Arkansas State and did “all right,” going 2-for-4 with a homer and two RBIs in the middle game.

“It wasn’t easy (slumping, sitting), but it just helped me to be a better teammate,” Fontenot said. “I knew I had to go out and keep giving 110 percent.

“I always felt like I was going to get another chance.”

For the month of April, he hit .227 in 22 at-bats and his batting average rose slightly to .182.

The turning point in Fontenot’s mind was a May 11 midweek road game against Houston. He entered the game, drew a walk and then followed that up with a double in the ninth.

“I got my confidence back and kind of got going (at the plate),” Fontenot said.

Indeed, he’s been a completely different hitter since that game. From the Houston game until now, Fontenot is hitting .342 with three doubles, a triple and five RBIs in 38 at-bats.

“I think they (coaches) just started noticing that when they called my number to pinch-hit, I got the job done,” Fontenot said. “Then I got some chances to start and I got the job done.”

Suddenly, as the stretch drive of the season began, this sophomore who was batting .163 a month before, began a streak on May 13 of starting the Cajuns’ last 11 games going into Friday’s NCAA Lafayette Regional opener at 7 p.m. against Princeton.

And he’ll be entering NCAA play with his average at a much more respectable .253 with four doubles, a triple, two homers, 10 RBIs and two stolen bases.

“He kept working hard,” Robichaux said. “He kept changing. He didn’t just blame it on me. You go fix it. That’s what he did.”

Although he’s still officially listed as a shortstop on his bio, moving to leftfield was another part of his transition.

“I wouldn’t say it was easy,” Fontenot said. “I had to learn all the ins and outs of playing in the outfield, but I’m confident now that I know what I’m doing out there.”

Also helping Fontenot’s mindset through the whole process was that the Cajuns as a team had also gotten off to a disappointing start, before rallying down the stretch to earn a NCAA Regional host site.

“It (slow start) really brought us together as a team,” he said. “We’re really a close-knit family now. We’d all do anything for each other.”