It\u2019s difficult to explain chemistry, camaraderie and the emotions and bonds built in the locker rooms and on the field. It\u2019s even harder to understand how all this manifests in improved playing, and, better yet, how it leads to championships when a team may fall short on the competitive balance scale. To a man, the Barbe Bucs, fresh off an unprecedented third straight Class 5-A state high school baseball title, will tell you the love and brotherhood they have for each other is unmatched, and the primary reason the team is rarely matched on the baseball diamond. \u201cWe love each other. We all love each other like brothers. We\u2019re not even a team. We are brothers,\u201d explained Bucs pitcher Slate Fuller, who was honored as the state tournament\u2019s most outstanding player. \u201cCoach Cecchini forms us all into amazing people and great leaders. Like I said, we love each other like brothers.\u201d Some actual blood brothers are prone to jealously and quick to fight. But that\u2019s clearly not the case in this Barbe band of brothers. Their support and closeness goes from the weight room, to the locker room, to the dugout, and between the white lines. They have each other\u2019s backs when play gets rough around the edges and lesser teammates might resort to finger pointing, which leads to hard feelings, tight playing and second guessing. That\u2019s a virus this Barbe team is immune to. They speak of playing loose with short memories and keeping the focus on \u201cthe play at hand.\u201d One pitch, one at bat and one out at a time until the game is in the books. The players build up each other\u2019s confidence with back slapping and moral support. If a ball is booted or a catch mishandled, then a sincere \u201cforget about it and let\u2019s go\u201d is the norm. \u201cIt\u2019s our job for the guys who have been there before to keep everyone calm and loose,\u201d says junior star pitcher and first baseman Adam Goree. \u201cIf Slate Fuller is feeling [the pressure of the moment], then it\u2019s my job to go up there and calm him down. We\u2019ve all been here (state championship games) and we know what it\u2019s like and the pressure he\u2019s feeling.\u201d Being the defending two-time Class 5-A state champion with eight title trophies in the case heading into this post-season, Barbe was no doubt the favorite to win their ninth championship. But they would have to call on that brotherhood of immense talent and intensity to deliver another title. They captured yet another district crown, fending off playoff qualifiers Lafayette, Acadiana, Sulphur and Sam Houston. Then came a tough opening playoff series victory over St. Amant, who was armed with strikeout king Blayne Enlow, described by Cecchini as the state\u2019s best pitcher. That set up a semi-final showdown with No. 4 seeded Catholic-Baton Rouge, in which the Bucs won in dramatic fashion: a bottom of the ninth walk-off, two-out, run-scoring triple by Ty Manuel. Cecchini called it one of the best games in his nearly 30 years of coaching. That\u2019s saying a lot and covering a lot of memorable games. This program, and the guys who wear that Barbe blue, are accustomed to being memorable. The championship showdown against Shreveport\u2019s Byrd High School was the culmination of Barbe\u2019s 11th state playoff appearance. Stomachs were tight and churning among the large contingent of Bucs fans jammed into Sulphur\u2019s McMurray Park as a 2-2 game was halted and suspended due to lightning in the fourth inning. The 11th-seeded Yellow Jackets were finding opportunities and keeping the Bucs in check. It\u2019s tough to battle divine intervention, though. Barbe players went home to their own beds while Byrd had to unpack and get settled into a local hotel. There was too much time for high schoolers to think and let the nerves become a factor. Fuller said the game\u2019s suspension helped him regroup; he added, \u201cI like to come out fresh and pitch in the sun on a pretty day.\u201d When the Bucs resumed play at 1 pm Sunday, Byrd seemed to lose its mojo, as the Bucs scored three runs in the bottom of the fifth with two outs. The program\u2019s ninth state championship came with a 5-2 final score. \u201cWe had to play every play 100 percent,\u201d said Fuller. \u201cIf we slacked off just a little, it could have cost us the game. We did a great job of staying in the moment the whole time.\u201d All great teams, programs and organizations that win multiple championships at any level of sports develop a process and winning culture that they live by, whoever wears the colors. Barbe is no different. At the center of their success is Cecchini, the veteran head coach who has been at it for nearly three decades. He has won consistently, relying on great fundamentals, instilling an unparalleled work ethic in his players and staff and squeezing every opportunity out of every possible game scenario. He showed off that last skill against Byrd in the state final. The team used anything at any time to apply pressure: stolen bases, hit and run, bunts, moving runners and hit batsmen. \u201cWe are going to do whatever it takes to win,\u201d Cecchini said. \u201cBlock bunts. Fake bunts. We broke the state record, maybe the national record, for getting hit by pitches. Whatever I tell them to do, they are going to do it. That\u2019s trust. We have talent, no doubt. We do all the drills and are well prepared. We play hard and work hard. We don\u2019t blame anyone else or the umpires for failures. We think positive and move on to the next play.\u201d It\u2019s the same system and tactics Cecchini has described many times before. At the forefront of Cecchini\u2019s recent success is his devout Christian faith and how he relates his love of Jesus Christ and the impact of that devotion to his players. He has built a program ingrained with strong ties to belief in God and to each other. \u201cWe are not a perfect team. We are not a perfect program, and I am far from perfect. For us, it\u2019s love. We genuinely love each other. [It\u2019s] spiritual strength, and we really do love each other.\u201d It wasn\u2019t always that way. Cecchini spoke of a time when he was the follower of the Church of Baseball first and faith second. Now his faith is at the forefront of his life, and baseball comes in a distant second. Early in his coaching career, Cecchini was a loud, hard-driving disciplinarian. He was tough as nails on his players. He admits he criticized and attacked the player instead of critiquing what the player did wrong. In the glow of yet another state title, Cecchini reflected on his past and the single-minded chase for championships. He still strives to win, but says he\u2019s determined to leave a legacy that \u201ctranscends\u201d baseball, and one that centers on much more. \u201cYou are what you do. I didn\u2019t want to be that guy. I would yell and scream at the player \u2014 and not for what he did. That\u2019s not very productive. If I wanted us to be the best, I had to hold myself accountable.\u201d So he changed. His beliefs and faith changed the way he coaches and interacts with his players. He became more positive, less negative; gave more hugs, threw fewer tantrums. He did more building of his player\u2019s character as compared to building only their baseball skills. It\u2019s worked. His players love him and are an extension of his drive and intensity. They are the state\u2019s dominant baseball dynasty, with nine 5-A championships and counting. Two years ago, they not only snagged a seventh state crown, but also won the national championship as the country\u2019s best prep team. Barbe has produced several top Major League draft picks, including, most recently, Cecchini\u2019s two sons Garin and Gavin. Every year, it seems Barbe players garner Division 1 scholarships to LSU \u2014 last year Beau and Bryce Jordan signed with the Tigers \u2014 Rice, UL-Lafayette, McNeese and Tulane. Success breeds success. Championships conjure up contempt from other teams and put a target on your back. Winning fosters high expectations from fans and media and inside the dugout. Goree, with his full beard, is now a seasoned veteran who speaks pragmatically about lofty goals and the status of being a champion. \u201cYou can\u2019t take high expectations as a negative or a bad thing. The fans want you to win as much as you want to win. You have to play your own game. If we play our own game, I honestly believe we can win every game.\u201d Cecchini believes Class 5-A is deep and talented as ever, with at least 15 teams that can contend and win the state title. Parity is high. Cecchini noted his Bucs \u201cdid not have an easy path to the state championship.\u201d Among those 15 teams are many from the local 3-5A district, including Lafayette, Sulphur and Sam Houston. With that said, Barbe\u2019s three-peat is an amazing feat. It\u2019s a testament to Cecchini\u2019s system, his coaching staff and how they develop the talent on their roster. No doubt, their line-ups are always rich in skills. This year\u2019s pitching staff set the team record for the lowest ERA \u2014 around .90. This is a pitching rotation that will lose only one arm in senior lefthander Tyler Booth, who went unbeaten at 8-0 with a team-low ERA of .88. The only other departing senior is catcher and outfielder Jaxson Caldwell. The Bucs will roll out an experienced, tested and ridiculously talented team for another championship run next year. Cecchini grinned with anticipation, knowing that despite being blessed with a stacked squad, you can\u2019t short-cut the process. \u201cWe will work and try to get 1 percent better at everything we do every day. There are things we can get better on and we will. Our goal will never be to simply make the state tournament. That would be a joke. We\u2019ve won three in a row, so we will never sell ourselves short. \u201cEvery year our goal is to win a state championship. Do we? No, but we are there a lot.\u201d Cecchini had to recognize that understatement was of grand proportions. The Bucs didn\u2019t take much time to savor this season and their third consecutive crown. Goree chuckled, saying it would take about a day before he and his mates would begin talking about a four-peat. Soon after, Cecchini and his coaching staff held team tryouts. The brotherhood only grows stronger.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It\u2019s difficult to explain chemistry, camaraderie and the emotions and bonds built in the locker rooms and on the field. It\u2019s even harder to understand how all this manifests in improved playing, and, better yet, how it leads to championships when a team may fall short on the competitive balance scale. To a man, the [&hellip<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":5023,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[1137,1139,1138,4,1140,64,33,1141],"yoast_head":"\n