Glenn Cecchini, Jeff Smith, and J.C. Holt Discuss Gavin Guidry, Ethan Frey, Garrett Edwards, and LSU

Lake Charles, LA (KPLC) - With LSU baseball heading to the College World Series Finals, three Southwest Louisiana players are heading there as well in Gavin Guidry, Garrett Edwards, and Ethan Frey, so on Friday 7 Sports Director Matthew Travis caught up with their high school coaches to discuss the journey.

Guidry, who played at Barbe, winning two State Championships in 2019, and 2021, plus a National Championship in 2021 with the Bucs, played a big part in LSU’s 5-2 win over Wake Forest on Wednesday night. Guidry was called on in relief in the seventh inning with one out, and runners on the corners, and he managed to get out of the jam with two strikeouts in just eight pitches and finished with 1.1 innings pitched, two strikeouts, and two hits allowed.

Guidry’s former coach, Glenn Cecchini of Barbe, talked about Guidry saying how proud he is of his former player, and how excited the Barbe community is for him, and the rest of the Tigers:

“LSU’s playing great, and Gavin and I have a close relationship, I sent him texts, but I try not to bother him. When I was there I saw him from a distance, I didn’t get a chance to talk to him, but I spoke to his parents and family, like twice, we were coming out of the stadium, they were there and we talked all about him. I’m so proud of him, pitched great the other day, punched out two, and then got two quick outs, he’s doing really well,” said Cecchini.

“It powers and inspires, like Landon Victorian is committed to LSU and he’s going to say, well if Gavin can do it than so can I, and the younger guys are going to say that too, because we know him. If we work hard, you know it just paves the way, it really inspires these kids to be able to do the things that they see the players before them doing. So I just think they’re going to be ecstatic, we’re a sports community, and everybody loves LSU, well not everyone, but most people do.”

Ethan Frey is another Tiger who got his start in Southwest Louisiana, helping the Rosepine Eagles win back-to-back State Championships in 2021, and 2022 before leaving to put on the purple and gold for LSU. Frey has appeared in 18 games this season for the Tigers with a batting average of .278, nine RBIs, and three runs scored.

On Friday, Frey’s high school coach Jeff Smith also joined us in the studio to discuss his former player and his journey with the Tigers:

“We’re a very small rural community in Rosepine, and I know our people there are just keeping their eyes on this situation with Ethan being on the team, and we’re just excited, it was an awesome moment for him, an awesome moment for everybody,” said Smith on LSU making the CWS Finals.

“We have a very special relationship, he played with us at Rosepine for four years, he was committed to our program at the highest level, and I know it is the same there at LSU, he’s playing his role over there. Very close with him, we have a facility at my house that he works at, so he’s there a lot, our families are close, our community is close, and we’re all just excited to see him get this opportunity.”

Garrett Edwards is the other former SWLA athlete playing for the Tigers, and like Guidry, and Frey, he found success in Southwest Louisiana before making his way to Baton Rouge. Edwards was successful on both the basketball court, and the diamond, helping Pitkin to State Championships in both sports, and on Friday, his former baseball coach, and former LSU Tiger J.C. Holt, shared their unique connection and spoke about what this means for him, and for the Pitkin community.

“I’ve known Garrett for a long time, his mom ended up marrying my wife’s first cousin, so I’ve known Garrett since he was five years old. I’ve been able to see him grow up, and see him grow into a great player, but what’s crazy is he was known for basketball when I got to Pitkin, and I came to coach him when he was going into his junior year, and everybody knew him as this great basketball player, nobody really knew him as a baseball player, and then he kind of burst onto that scene his junior year, and then everybody was like, wow he’s pretty good at baseball too,” said Holt.

“Anytime you get to watch your alma mater have success it’s awesome, so anytime you get to put on the purple and gold it’s special, and anytime, especially someone I’m close to like Garrett, gets to play there, it makes it that much more special. I know he’s hurt, but he’s getting to experience it, and I know he’s enjoying it, I’ve talked to him, and we text almost daily so he’s enjoying it, enjoying the ride, and he’s loving seeing his teammates do big things because they’ve had a lot of guys step up in big situations the last couple of days,” said Holt who played at LSU in 2002 and 2003.

For the full interviews with Cecchini, Smith, and Holt, click here.

LSU will take on Florida in game one of the College World Series Finals on Saturday, June 24th, at 6:00.

Copyright 2023 KPLC. All rights reserved.