Hahnville alum helps drive Cajuns to NCAA regional

Once the ace of the Hahnville High rotation, Austin Perrin recently put the finishing touches on a fine college career at Louisiana-Lafayette – and a fine senior season, one that not that long ago hardly seemed promised.

He helped spur the Cajuns into NCAA Regional Tournament competition this season, and the Cajuns made a quick impact once arriving at College Station – it downed Big 12 regular season champion TCU, 7-6, in its opening game of the tournament before ultimately falling to Texas A&M and in a rematch against TCU at the double elimination tournament.

Perrin was a big part of ULL’s success in a 2022 that saw the team finish 37-22, and he overcame a lot to get to this point.

The lefthander injured his “lat” muscle in a 2019 game against Mississippi State, a bad break that cost him the 2020 season. Beyond that, the injury did not present a clear road to rehab for him at first – he told The Advocate in 2021 that the injury prevented him from lifting his arm at all, and placed doubts in his mind as to if he’d ever have the opportunity to pitch again for the Cajuns.

Those doubts disappeared, or perhaps more accurately, Perrin chased them away through relentless work to get back on the mound.

And get back on the mound he did, with a vengeance. Perrin leapt into his first action in two seasons as a junior in 2021 and produced a 2.61 ERA and 1.16 WHIP in 38 innings, including seven starts – those numbers represented career best marks, showing no rust from his layoff or ill-effects from the injury. His first seven appearances saw opponents scratch no runs across against him. He helped the Cajuns post a 32-23 record that season.

As a senior this season, he followed that up with another quality campaign. Perrin went 3-0 on the mound with a 2.78 ERA and a 1.24 WHIP, starting two games and appearing in 15 total. He struck out 24 batters in 22.2 innings. Highlighting his year was a stretch of seven straight scoreless appearances, including extended efforts against Rice and Appalachian State.

At Hahnville, Perrin was a star and a team leader. As a senior, Perrin earned one of the All-State pitcher slots as he dominated in his final year. His numbers included a 1.45 ERA, a 0.85 WHIP, a 7-3 record and 102 strikeouts in 67.1 innings. That strikeout count pushed Perrin to 277 for his career, believed to be an all-time Hahnville record. His career ERA was 1.52 and WHIP 0.91; Perrin became a regular starter as a sophomore and saw action as a freshman.

At the plate, he was also dangerous. He hit .376, got on base at a .487 clip and drove in 28 runs while scoring 14.

 

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