A final hurrah for two sensational French baseball/softball seniors
Fourth-year students in American colleges and universities are called seniors, and senior year — the final eight or nine months before graduation — is extremely important.
It’s a major transition period. A final hurrah before friends and classmates go their separate ways into the great unknown of jobs, careers, or whatever opportunities await them.
For student-athletes, this final year carries even more significance. It’s the culmination of a lifetime of training and hard work, and for most, the last chance to play their respective sport at such a high level of competition and intensity.
That’s why, as the college baseball and softball seasons are just getting underway in the United States, Le Baseblog wants to shine a spotlight on a duo of French players, both seniors, who will soon be saying goodbye to their respective schools.
Expect these two stars to leave it all on the field in the coming months as they seek to put an exclamation point on their already remarkable college careers.
Frédéric Walter
That is drilled, left-center field. Going back. Going back. Going back! IT’S OVER! A game-winning home run. FRED WALTER!
That was the ecstatic play call that made the rounds on social media last May after Frédéric Walter of Oklahoma City University (OCU) in Oklahoma gave his team a decisive victory in the 13th inning of a game against Benedictine College in the NAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics) Tournament.
He feels good, continued the Varsity Sports Network announcer, unable to contain his emotions. He’s from France. It works for him.
“He feels good. He’s from France. It works for him.”
Playing for the OCU Stars seems to really work for the nearly 24-year-old French player, who made his debut with the Cougars de Montigny-le-Bretonneux, in the Paris region, before honing his skills with the Barracudas de Montpellier and at the Pôle France Baseball Academy in Toulouse.
Facebook du Pole France: here
After graduating from the Pôle, Walter had the opportunity to go to Seminole State College, a two-year school in Florida. Transitioning from a community college to a four-year school is no easy task, but in 2019, the powerful infielder did just that, signing with OCU, where he immediately made his presence felt.
In 2020, Walter had an impressive .338 average before the COVID pandemic cut the season short. Benefiting from an extra year of eligibility, he returned for the 2021 season, still technically a junior (third-year student), and picked up where he left off, collecting 51 hits in 180 at-bats, including nine home runs. He also drove in 42 runs for the OCU Stars, who finished with a 36-19 record.
All of this set the stage for the French player’s final college season, which began last Tuesday, February 1st, with a 9-3 victory over Tabor College (Kansas). And once again, Walter stood out, collecting two hits in the game, including a solo home run in the fourth inning.
The next step for the Stars is a doubleheader this Tuesday (February 8th) against Southwestern College, also in Kansas, and Le Baseblog, for its part, is eager to see how it all unfolds.
Mélissa Mayeux
The other French senior star, Mélissa Mayeux of the University of Louisiana-Lafayette (UL), is a player who needs no introduction.
The 23-year-old has been making headlines since Major League Baseball (MLB) made the unprecedented decision in 2015 to add her to its international registration list. Mayeux was just 16 years old at the time.
A true pioneer, she later became the first player to compete in D1 in France, playing for both the Barracudas de Montpellier and her hometown club, the Cougars de Montigny.
And yet, despite all her fame and natural skill, Mayeux had to fight for the opportunity to play in the United States, all the more so as it meant switching from baseball to softball, a sport she essentially had to learn on the fly.
That’s exactly what she did, and over two seasons at Miami Dade College in Florida, the young Frenchwoman excelled, batting .377 in 2018 and .431 the following year. Both times, she earned all-conference honors.
This then led her to the UL Ragin’ Cajuns in NCAA D1, the highest level of American college sport. And in both the COVID-shortened 2020 season and again last year, Mayeux was a key contributor. In 2021, she appeared in 50 games for the Sunbelt Conference champions, collecting 25 hits, with four home runs and 26 RBIs.
Like Frédéric Walter, Mayeux was granted an extra year of eligibility due to the early suspension of the 2020 season, giving her the opportunity to play one more year with the Ragin’ Cajuns. The UL team had a 47-12 record last year and is considered one of the top 25 in the country.
Mayeux and her teammates have yet to take the field, but will begin this Friday, February 11th, at home, in a doubleheader against the University of Alabama at Birmingham. They will play again the next day, with games against North Texas and Texas Southern, followed by a showdown Sunday (February 13th) with Tulsa.
Gaux Cajuns!
Benjamin Witte
