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Mr. Colton Lee

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Email: leecolton16@yahoo.com

Tim Buckley, The Advertiser, Feb. 28,2017

If baseball really does mirror life, the blunder could be compared a hanging curve that got taken yard. The bigger misstep, though, would be throwing the same pitch again.

For UL relief pitcher Colton Lee, the miscue was his November 2015 arrest for operating a vehicle while intoxicated.

Now, having served a penalty imposed by Ragin’ Cajuns coach Tony Robichaux that hit hard, Lee simply wants to make sure he never repeats it.

And just like he didn’t hide from the suspension that cost him the entire 2016 season, the senior righty from Picayune, Mississippi, doesn’t shy away when asked to reflect on his long timeout.

“It’s just one of those things where I made a mistake and it was a mess, basically,” Lee said. “And I just kind of wanted to turn my mess into a message.”

That message?

“Just to know everybody makes mistakes, and that you can overcome those mistakes you make. And to learn from them,” Lee said. “Don’t make the same mistake multiple times …

“If it’s the same mess every time, you’re not really turning it into a message. It just stays a mess.”

Lee said banishment from the program for a full season was “definitely tough.”

“I’ve been playing baseball since I was like 3 years old,” he said.

For the first time in what seemed like forever, however, there were games to play but Lee had his glove and ball taken away.

CRUSHING IMPLICATIONS

According to Robichaux shortly after the incident, Lee was pulled over after picking up his younger brother, who had called for a ride while he was visiting from out of town.

Lee realized the implications right away, and they were crushing.

Robichaux’s longstanding disciplinary policy is that a misdemeanor arrest of any sort results in an automatic one-season suspension.

Lee knew that on the front end.

Like all Cajun baseball players, he agreed to abide by team rules — and to accept the consequences if he did not.

But that didn’t make it easier, by any stretch.

“It was tough, but it definitely was a learning experience,” Lee said. “I’m kind of grateful now that I went through it, because I grew as a man and grew as a person.”

SCHOOLING EXPERIENCE

With no baseball for him early in 2016, Lee focused more on schoolwork than he ever had before.

“I ended up making a 4.0 that semester,” he said, “so I was pretty excited about that.”

He also worked — manual labor, some of it involving management of a cleanup crew. That helped Lee learn what he doesn’t want to do in life.

“It definitely was something I wasn’t ready for,” he said, “because it was the real world.”

So when the start of baseball season rolled around last February, Lee had no doubt where he’d be.

He was in the stands, watching teammates play — often at home, sometimes on the road too — and schooling himself.

“Those are my brothers,” he said. “Anytime I got a chance to, I was there at the games.

“I would sit there, and (think about) the things Coach Robe has taught us as pitchers — to sit back and say, ‘0-2 count; (the hitter) just spun on a ball; time to throw this pitch.’

“Anytime there was a situation with runners on, or something like that,” Lee added, “in my head I was just running through all the things I would do if I was in that situation.”

Treating it like the redshirt season he never had coming out of Mississippi’s Pearl River Central High, Lee also used his time off the team to let a slight forearm injury heal.

Mostly, though, he studied batters and pitchers from a seat surrounded by fans.

“Really it was just kind of trying to figure out the tendencies hitters have in certain counts,” he said, “and also the tendencies pitchers have in certain counts.”

It all hammered home a need to be aggressive, not at all passive, when pitching.

THE RIGHT PATH

The reach of Lee’s lessons learned, though, extend far beyond baseball.

In fact, he didn’t pitch or practice one bit during the 2016 season. He didn’t even throw a ball — not even to a buddy, or against a wall.

To stay in shape, he instead played intramural basketball.

“I didn’t take it as (an) ‘I’ve got to work harder to get better for baseball’ aspect,” Lee said.

Instead, the approach he said he took was “I have to work harder to get better as a man.”

“If … you’re not working on the type of person you are,” Lee said, “you’re probably not gonna do as well in work as you would if you worked harder on the type of person you are and the type you’re gonna be or the type of woman you’re gonna be, because your morals aren’t straight or things aren’t straight in your life.

“And that’s basically what I did.”

Lee also maintained contact with Robichaux, whose biggest interest — according to the pitcher — was making “sure I was on the right path.”

PARENTAL INFLUENCE

Lee could have finished his college career elsewhere, or simply walked away from the game.

Robichaux respects the fact Lee did neither, and instead readily accepted the terms of his suspension.

“He had some other opportunities, to get out of it,” the Cajun coach said last week, “and he never wavered.

“He told his parents that the rules were clear; he signed ’em, he agreed to ’em and that ‘I’m gonna live out my suspension.’”

Lee said his parents, Stacey and Michelle, were “a huge help” throughout the tough times.

“Obviously they were disappointed,” he said. “But I looked at it as, ‘Yeah, I disappointed them, but I felt like I disappointed myself more than anybody.’

“But they were a big-time part of it. They also were like Coach Robe, where they were making sure I was on the right path, that I wasn’t straying off and getting depressed.

“They were there for me throughout the whole way,” Lee added. “They never pushed me aside, or anything like that. They would always check on me and make sure things were going good.”

His mother, Michelle, Lee suggested, searched for a silver lining.

“She said, ‘Everything happens for a reason; God’s made this happen for a reason,’” he said. “Of course we didn’t want it to happen his way. But it doesn’t matter what our plan is. It’s His plan.

“And she said, ‘This gives you time for your arm to heal up, and to get ready for the comeback.’

“That,” Lee added, “is basically what both of them have said — just to sit back and make sure you do what you can to make sure your arm gets healthy.”

MUCH SCREAMING

When UL played in its fourth straight NCAA Regional last year, hosting one in Lafayette, Lee wasn’t on hand.

With the semester over, he had returned home to Mississippi and was helping his father with construction work.

But Lee was able to watch games from afar, “screaming every chance I got.”

As Arizona beat UL with back-to-back Regional wins over the Cajuns, Lee realized his college would not be ending at the same time as the other juco-transfers he came in with.

He realized he’d never throw again to the only starting catcher he’d known at UL, then-senior Nick Thurman.

And Lee, 2-3 with three saves and a 3.40 ERA in 2015, realized there wasn’t a darn thing he could do to help his teammates as they fell to the Wildcats in what should have been his senior season.

“I looked at it as, ‘Man, I’m supposed to be out there with them. This is supposed to be it for me,’” he said. “But I also looked at it as, ‘Everything happens for a reason,’ and I just moved on.

“It was one of those things where I didn’t harp on it. I just kind of sat back and was like, ‘Everything’s gonna be all right.’”

RIDING A BIKE

Lee didn’t touch a ball and glove until the sometime around late July or early August 2016.

And it wasn’t even his idea when he did.

“It was toward the end of the summer,” Lee said. “Me and my little brother. He wanted to throw one day, and I just went out in the yard and I threw with him.”

That’s the brother he was picking up when the OWI arrest occurred.

“I hope it was a learning experience for him too, to know and learn from my mistakes,” Lee said.

“He kind of looks up to me, and that’s one of things where (I thought), ‘OK, now I’ve got to become a man and let him know that’s not what it’s about to be a man.’”

The ball-toss session was both telling and encouraging.

“It was weird,” Lee said, “because I hadn’t thrown in about six months or so.

“At first it was like, ‘Wow, I have a lot to work on now — because I haven’t thrown in a while.’ But Coach Robe always told me, ‘I don’t think you’re ever gonna forget how to throw a baseball, so whatever you have to do, take your breaks, don’t throw until you feel like you’re ready.’”

By the time fall ball rolled around last semester, and Lee was throwing with the Cajuns again, it was as if he hadn’t missed a beat.

“It was basically like jumping right back on a bike,” Lee said.

“It was kind of surreal, because it was like, ‘I’m back. I’m good. Everything’s back in order. I learned from what I needed to learn from, and I’m here to move on.’”

But when Lee returned this season, he did so as a walk-on, not a scholarship player.

He made his first appearance since 2015 in UL’s first win of 2017, throwing 2.0 no-hit innings with one walk in a 1-0 victory over Hofstra on Feb. 19.

Lee also walked the only batter he faced in a 2-0 win last Friday night at Sam Houston State, and he takes a 0.00 ERA over two appearances into 3-3 UL’s game Tuesday night at Northwestern State.

“I sat back (while out) and watched the pitchers, watched the hitters, and I learned to attack,” Lee said.

“There were many times when (new Cajun catcher) Handsome (Monica) would give me fastball in, fastball away (against Hofstra).

“That was my goal, to throw it there,” he added. “But there were times when I was just throwing it and saying, ‘Here’s my fastball; try and hit it.’ Once I let it go, I let the way I throw dictate how they made contact with it.”

DO NOT RUN

Robichaux appreciates the fact his set-up man stayed at UL.

“What I was proud of is that most people … run when you’re gonna suspend ’em for a year, take baseball away from ’em, take their scholarship away from ’em,” the Cajun coach said.

“But him and his parents said, ‘No, he’s gonna stay put right here and he’s gonna live out his mistake.’

“(His) parents need to be commended in being able to have him stand up as a man, and not worry about just the baseball part of this,” Robichaux added. “So I was glad for him.”

Lee suggested there was never a point during his suspension when he wondered if going through all he did to return was worth it.

“Since I’ve been here … Robe has been like a father away from home,” he said, “and I felt like I owed it to the program, I owed to myself, and all the fans, my friends, my family, I owed it to everyone to show that I wasn’t gonna run away from a problem.”

RAGIN’ CAJUNS BASEBALL

WHO: No. 16 UL (3-3) at Northwestern State (3-3)

WHERE: Brown-Stroud Field, Natchitoches

WHEN: 6 p.m. Tuesday

RADIO: ESPN 1420 AM with Jay Walker and Jeff Schneider

TV: None

ABOUT THE CAJUNS: After winning the first two games but losing the third of a weekend series at Sam Houston State, UL fell from No, 13 to 16 in the D1Baseball Top 25, stayed at 16 in the Baseball America national poll, dropped from 15 to 16 according to the NCBWA and dropped out of Collegiate Baseball’s Top 15 from 16. … Sophomore lefty Hogan Harris (0-0, 0.00) will make his first start of the season. … UL leads the all-time series 85-48, including nine straight wins since 2012 (two last year). … Leading hitters: DH Todd Lott (.438), 1B Alex Pinero (.429), OF Ishmael Edwards (.385), 2B Brenn Conrad (.304).

ABOUT THE OPPONENT: Northwestern State went 2-1 in an opening-weekend series with Cincinnati, then 1-2 last weekend against Arkansas State. … Leading hitters: LF Cade Jones (.375), DH Regan Kaufman (300).