2023SummerWarriorWEB

Daniel Landry, Amedee, Fabian Huddleston, David Martin, Jerry Dupuy, and Luke Gibbon

AMEDEE

and keep him out of center field for good. He was, however, able to return to the mound and threw his first no hitter against Southwest Mississippi Community College. As a pitcher, Amedee did not have to hit, but during his last game at Clark-Gay Stadium, he said he begged Clark for one last chance at the plate. “At my last home game, I begged coach to let me hit one more time. He said ‘You big dumb Cajun, you can’t run!’ I just told him that I’d hit one out and I could jog around the bases. Well, the good Lord must have been listening because that’s exactly what happened. I rounded third and Jamie Clark just smiled and put his head down and shook my hand.” In those days, Coach Clark didn’t have any assistant coaches, but Amedee said he taught them what it meant to be a leader and he shaped a ton of boys into young men. “He would get on my case, but I know he needed to. He was teaching all of us life lessons and none of us realized it until years later. Of course, Mrs. Audrey Clark had some help in raising all the players too!” The family atmosphere instilled by coaches and instruc tors spilled over into student life as well. Being an out-of state player, it was not unusual for teammates to invite him to their home for the weekend. He said that helped combat home for the weekend and there wasn’t much happening on campus. Amedee said he also enjoyed student life and being involved in the cam pus community. “Campus life was great. We could walk from one end to the other in about 10 minutes and you always would see someone you knew. We enjoyed the spring formal and spring fling. Off campus there were a few places the locals would take us to. The only one I can remember is ‘where the water crosses the road.’ “The professors and staff made it easy for us out-of state guys to adapt. I have some of the best memories and friends anyone could ever ask for from my two years there. Not only baseball players, but other students.” the loneliness sometimes felt when all the local kids went

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with a ton of articles and pictures from my time at ECCC. That’s one of the best things anyone had ever done for me.” Although he says he didn’t know what to expect as a young college student, Amedee made the most of his career both on and off the baseball field. He served as team captain for the Warrior baseball team, was named MVP, Exemplary Player of the Year, First Team All-State and First Team All-Region. A President’s List scholar, he won the state VICA (Vocational Industrial Clubs of America, now known as SkillsUSA) competition in Archi tectural Design in 1992 and competed on the national level. He was selected ECCC’s Most Handsome, Mr. ECCC, and was a member of the Mu Alpha Theta. During his freshman year, Amedee was a first baseman and pitcher for the Warriors. After a summer starting at center field for his local American Legion team back home and placing third in the American Legion World Series, he would return to ECCC as the starting first baseman and also pitched. He moved to center field after the starter was injured. Although he would be named MVP following his sopho more season, Amedee admit his teammates know when he wasn’t happy and it wasn’t always communicated through words, but actions. “There were times when Coach would get mad and I’d come back to the dugout and couldn’t find my batting helmet and gloves. Somebody finally told me he threw them over the dugout in that little ditch that was right behind it. There also used to be a big oak tree where the softball field is now. Coach would get mad at something at practice, and he would make us run to that oak tree, thru a barbed wire fence and bring him back a piece of bark.” An injury his sophomore season which included torn ligaments in his knee would sideline him for three weeks “ ted his game wasn’t always perfect and Coach Clark had no hesitancy to let him or

” I’m thankful Jamie Clark gave a young, skinny kid a chance to play college baseball. Without that opportunity and the lessons learned in my two years at ECCC, there’s no telling where my life would be right now.

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