GONZALES, La. — Ascension Parish President Tommy Martinez has declared that Thursday, Sept. 17, will be Paul Mainieri Day in the Parish, in honor of LSU’s national championship-winning baseball coach.
Coach Mainieri is scheduled to be on hand at Thursday’s 7 p.m. Parish Council meeting at the Ascension Courthouse East in Gonzales to receive a proclamation from President Martinez and the Council.
Buzzy Haydel, a senior utility player on LSU’s 2009 national championship team who played at East Ascension High School in Gonzales, will lead the council meeting in the Pledge of Allegiance. Haydel now serves the LSU baseball team as an undergraduate assistant coach.
Randall Aldridge, who played baseball at LSU and East Ascension and was an All-SEC Western Division selection as an outfielder in 1974, will deliver the invocation.
When he was hired as LSU’s coach in 2006, Mainieri vowed to return the Tigers “to the pinnacle position in college baseball.” In three short years, he has done just that.
In 2009, Mainieri led LSU to a 56-17 record and the College World Series title with a 2-1 championship series victory over Texas. The national championship was the sixth in the Tigers’ illustrious history ? and first since 2000 ? tying LSU with Texas for the second-most baseball titles in NCAA history behind only Southern California.
Mainieri has restored not only winning but a championship spirit to one of the nation’s premier college baseball programs. In addition to this year’s CWS title, Mainieri led LSU to the CWS in 2008, an SEC regular-season title in 2009, SEC Tournament titles in 2008 and 2009, and an overall record of 134-62-2. For his efforts, he was named national coach of the year by numerous publications and Web sites in 2008 and 2009, as well as being named SEC Coach of the Year in 2009.
Combined with his previous coaching stints at Notre Dame, Air Force and St. Thomas, Mainieri has a career record of 998-554-7.
As a player, Coach Mainieri spent one season at LSU in 1976. He also played at Miami-Dade Community College for his father, Demie, and two seasons at the University of New Orleans.