BATON ROUGE — LSU student-athlete Wally Pontiff, a member of the baseball team, died Wednesday morning in his parents’ Metairie home. The cause of death has not yet been determined.
Relatives and friends are invited to attend a Funeral Mass at Jesuit High School Chapel of the North American Martyrs on Friday, July 26, 2002 at 2:30 p.m. Visitation will be at the Lake Lawn Metairie Funeral Home at 5100 Ponchartrain Blvd. on Friday from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. Burial will be held at Metairie Cemetary.
In lieu of flowers, the Pontiff family asks that donations be sent to:
The Strive Center
1139 Napoleon Avenue
New Orleans, LA 70115
(504) 895-2557
Pontiff, 21, a three-year letterman, was the designated hitter on LSU’s 2000 NCAA championship team, and he was the Tigers’ starting third baseman the past two seasons. A biological sciences major with a 3.25 gpa, Pontiff was named to the 2002 District VI Academic all-America team, and he was a two-time of the Southeastern Conference Academic Honor Roll.
Pontiff was selected in June by the Oakland Athletics in the 21st round of the major league baseball draft. Prior to his death, he was considering a decision to either sign with the Athletics or return to LSU for his senior season.
As a freshman, Pontiff helped lead the Tigers to the 2000 national title, batting .347 with 20 doubles, seven homers and 45 RBI. He was voted the Most Outstanding Player of the 2000 SEC Tournament, and he was named an honorable mention Freshman all-American by Collegiate Baseball magazine.
Pontiff also hit .347 in 2001 with nine doubles, seven homers and 58 RBI. He earned first-team all-SEC recognition, and he was voted to the NCAA Baton Rouge Regional all-tournament team. The Tigers reached the NCAA Super Regional round and completed the season ranked No. 9 in the country.
He batted .339 in 2002 with 20 doubles, six homers and 46 RBI, earning second-team all-SEC honors as the Tigers advanced to an NCAA Super Regional and finished No. 11 in the nation.
Pontiff completed the 2002 season on the LSU career Top 10 lists in three offensive categories — hits (9th, 254), doubles (tied for 7th, 49) and batting average (10th, .344).
Prior to beginning his collegiate career, he was an honor roll student and all-state baseball player at Jesuit High School in New Orleans.
Pontiff is survived by his father Wally, Sr.; his mother, Terry; a younger sister, Haley; and a younger brother, Nicholas.
Visitation/Mass for Wally Pontiff
Friday, July 26, 2002
Visitation: 10 a.m.-2 p.m.
Lake Lawn Metairie Funeral Home
5100 Ponchartrain Blvd.
New Orleans, LA
(504) 486-6331
Funeral Mass: 2:30 p.m.
Jesuit High School
Chapel of North American Martyrs
4133 Banks Street
New Orleans, LA
DIRECTIONS TO LAKE LAWN METAIRIE FUNERAL HOME
Coming from Causeway/Baton Rouge on I-10
When you reach the I-10 / 6-10 split, stay on I-610. Exit at Canal
Coming from East (Mobile, Mississippi, Slidell)
After you cross the High Rise over the Industrial Canal, stay in your right
Coming from Downtown/Westbank
On I-10 heading west, you will pass the Metairie Road/City Park Avenue exit.
Boulevard, which is immediately after the split. At the light, take a right onto Canal Boulevard. Proceed down Canal Boulevard until it ends at City Park Avenue. Turn right onto City Park Ave. At the second light turn right onto the Interstate service road. Continue straight ahead and the funeral home is on your left. Use the second gate after you pass the fountain. lane, you will reach the split for I-10 / I-610, exit I-10 onto I-610. Proceed on I-610 for several miles until reaching the Canal Boulevard exit. Take the Canal Boulevard Exit and at the light turn left onto Canal Boulevard. Proceed down Canal Boulevard until it ends at City Park Avenue. Turn right onto City Park Ave. At the second light turn right onto the Interstate service road. Continue straight ahead and the funeral home is on your left. Use the second gate after you pass the fountain. Use the next exit, which is Florida Boulevard and West End Boulevard. Exit. Take West End to Veterans Blvd. At the light, you will turn left onto Veterans Boulevard. Proceed down Veterans Boulevard to the second light and turn left onto Fleur de Lis. Continue straight ahead for two blocks and at the stop sign turn right. Follow this road around under the interstate and under the railroad crossing and enter the funeral home at the second entrance.
Head Coach Smoke Laval on Student-Athlete Wally Pontiff’s Death
“It’s a sad day not only for the Pontiff’s but for the whole LSU family.”
On memorializing Wally …
“I’m sure there will be. Patches will be worn. They might put something up with the stars and stripe on The Intimidator (outfield billboard) in remembrance of his leadership.”
On Wally the person …
“He was working to play in the big leagues, every single day. I didn’t change much coming in here as coach, but one thing I did is we didn’t have an appointed captain, but the players all went to him, which is what I wanted. He would have been the guy and deservingly so. He was a 3.4 pre-med student, an All-American guy.”
“I know he was working daily to improve his strength, foot-speed, quickness and lateral movement. He was on a mission. He had a goal.”
Quotes from Athletics Director Skip Bertman:
On the passing of third baseman Wally Pontiff
“I know I speak for many voices, certainly the coaches, Coach Laval, Coach Canevari, Coach Thomas and in fact all of the coaches that worked with Wally (Pontiff), the players that are here today and in fact all of the players that have played with Wally to say to the family, the shock, the horror, the grief that we all feel and our prayers are with Wally, Terry, Nick and Haley. They are a great, great family.”
“I don’t have the words to express the feeling. There is a lot of emptiness and it seems to be hard to fill. A lot of people have called me, especially fans, and have respectfully offered their prayers and sympathies to the family, the entire community of Baton Rouge and especially the LSU community.”
“When someone is as talented and popular as Wally, this kind of tragedy affects so many people and it’s tough to put it into words. His teammates are here and he was everybody’s All-American.”
On what he thought of Wally while recruiting him out of high school…
“He caught my attention very, very early. Long before he was a senior. Jim Schwanke was coaching him at that time and I went down to see him the summer before his senior year. When we recruited him in the fall, there was a tremendous rain storm, but he and his dad came up and he was the first recruit that we signed that year. His dad is a former player that I knew when he played, while I was at the University of Miami, and his dad is a wonderful role model.”