Sports Person of the Week – Eli Deville

LAKE CHARLES, La. (KPLC) – Southwest Louisiana has produced some of the top baseball talent in the country, and that looks like it will continue with plenty of young players like infielder Eli Deville. The 12-year-old has already accomplished so much in a short amount of time. Eli is fresh off an appearance in the 11U Perfect Game Invitational where he made the all-tournament team, and he made it clear that he is just a kid that knew early on baseball was going to be the thing for him.

“I was playing t-ball and I was good at it, so based on that it was just really hard to play any other sports than baseball,” said Deville. “It’s pretty cool to have one of the top high schools out here because when I go to different places they know about Barbe and they know I’m from Lake Charles, so it’s pretty cool people know that is where I will end up going in the future.”

To build his skills Deville has been working with former Barbe Buccaneer and McNeese Baseball player Antonio Gauthier. Gauthier over the last four years has tried to help hone in not only Deville’s physical skills but also his mental as well.

“The biggest thing that I work with him is the mental side of the game, obviously we see he has the physical gifts, but what we preach a lot of times in here is just really having that mental game right,” said Gauthier. “I tell him a lot of times, you have a lot of kids, they’re going to be physical, they’re going to be strong, they’re going to be fast, they have kids probably even his size that can do what he does, but with the training that we’re doing here, we’re teaching him to critique it to the way we know whenever you get on the field, his talent is going to come through no matter the circumstances.”

Deville has plenty of achievements like the 24 home runs he had this past season with the Traction Canes, but he is most excited about the experiences that baseball brings. Deville has plenty of trips that he is getting ready to take including the one he is most excited about in the Select Fest. Eli will be the only player at his age to represent the State of Louisiana when he heads to Select Fest in August.

“My favorite one I’m about to go to or looking up to go to is probably the Select Fest because college scouts and MLB scouts will be there which is a big opportunity for me to meet people and learn,” said Deville.

“Seeing him go out there and enjoy it, and then when you see it pay off on the back half and then you start seeing the accolades, you start seeing the rewards, it’s just it makes you that much more sure about the player he is,” said Gauthier.

Copyright 2024 KPLC. All rights reserved.