New Iberia Senior High first baseman Chad Boutte (20) signed with the Centenary College baseball team earlier this year. All four of NISH’s senior baseball players are preparing to play in college, with Chipper Menard headed to UL Lafayette, Dustin Menard to Fort Hays State in Kansas and Teagan Bourque to LSU Eunice.

The baseball coaches at Centenary liked what they saw of New Iberia Senior High first baseman Chad Boutte in a summer baseball tournament in 2019 and offered him a spot on their roster.

During one game, Boutte had an opposite-field hit off the wall, and the next day his Louisiana Canes coach let him know the Centenary coach had contacted him and wanted to talk with Boutte.

After visiting the school’s Shreveport campus at the coach’s invitation, Boutte gave it some thought and signed a national letter of intent in January to play for the Gents.

“It was really nice,” Boutte said. “Centenary’s a lot different from a bigger college because it’s a smaller college. It’s Division III, but if it gets me playing time, I’ll do that.”

Boutte, 5-foot-10 and 198 pounds said he’s been told that he’ll get a look at first base, but if he hits well enough the coaches will play him wherever they need to in order to have his bat in the lineup.

“They want to see me more in the fall to be able to show them I can hit both ways,” Boutte said.

The NISH baseball team had gotten off to a 10-2 start to the 2020 season before the COVID-19 pandemic shut down school, sports and much of life in March, putting a stop to what looked to be one of the most successful seasons for the Yellow Jackets in years.

The team worked hard, and knew it was their year, Boutte said.

“It was tough, not just for me but for the rest of the seniors,” Boutte said. “I’m really proud of this team from NISH this year.”

All four seniors on the NISH baseball team signed with college teams this year — Chipper Menard with UL Lafayette and Dustin Menard with Fort Hays State in November, Boutte in January and Teagan Bourque with LSU Eunice this month.

That group was a good nucleus for a promising season, he said, and he’s proud of the senior class for all getting the chance to play in college.

Boutte is playing summer league baseball again with the Louisiana Canes, who had a rough start the first weekend after the three-month layoff from baseball, but has begun to get back in the groove.

NISH was scheduled to hold its graduation ceremonies Thursday evening. Now Boutte is looking forward to college and will visit the school for registration next week. As for baseball, he is looking forward to new teammates and having the chance to show what he can do. Though Shreveport is a few hours away, he expects his mother to try to make some games.

“My mom knows it’s kind of far, but she’s happy for me, for sure,” he said.