PITTSBURGH, Pa. — Just a few weeks after saying he would stick with Southeastern Louisiana University for his senior year, former Riverside ace pitcher Tate Scioneaux decided to leave earlier to join the Pittsburgh Pirates.

After three solid years at Southeastern, Scioneaux was drafted by the Pirates in the 39th round of the Major League Baseball draft this summer.

Scioneaux put together a great year at SLU his junior year, leading his team to a 42-17 record and winning the Southland Conference championship for the first time in the program’s history.

Scioneaux posted a 9-3 record with a 2.53 ERA, boasting 96 strikeouts in 110.1 innings.

Over his three years at SLU, Scioneaux started 46 games and saw relief duty in one. He also has the third most wins in team history with 23 and the second most strikeouts with 260.

Despite fulfilling a lifelong goal of being drafted, Scioneaux at first balked at the opportunity to join the pro ranks. After a story in L’OBSERVATEUR ran on July 1 regarding his decision to stick with SLU for his senior season, Scioneaux said he got a call from Pirates management.

“After that story came out they decided to offer me more (money). So I am going to sign,” he said.

Although he will forego his senior season of college ball, Scioneaux said he is determined to finish up his degree.

“I am definitely going to finish school,” he said.

Former Riverside Academy head coach Matt White said he is not surprised Scioneaux was drafted.

According to White, Scioneaux’s rise through the ranks by becoming one of the best high school pitchers in the country to one of the best college players in the country and now on to the pros has been due to the hard work he puts in day in and day out.

“Every day he brought his lunch pail and hardhat to practice and always asked me what to do next as far as conditioning and getting his velocity up,” White said. “He always was a student of the game every day. In my 20 some years of coaching I haven’t ran into a lot of guys like that. A lot of guys take a day off here and there, but every day he got better.”

However, when White began coaching the young phenom as a junior in high school he admits he would not have guessed at that time what Scioneaux’s future had in store.

“When I got him in his junior year, I checked his velocity with the radar, and after our first scrimmage he was throwing 82 miles per hour,” White said.

“By the end of the year he was throwing 88 miles per hour. His stamina wasn’t very good his junior year. He would start throwing around 85 and 87 and then by the fourth inning they would be hitting a bit more and his velocity would be down to 82 or 83.”

But in between Scioneaux’s junior and senior years White said he made a jump and that is when he first started to think he may have a chance at the pros.

“I just saw the way he was so coachable,” White said. “He went to the throwing coach in Metairie between his junior and senior year to fine tune it. That got his velocity up even more. Tate was always trying to get better.”

In fact, Scioneaux’s success on the field was not limited to his play at pitcher, he was also noted as an outstanding catcher and batter.

“He just tried to get better every day on the baseball field,” White said. “He was a heck of a catcher, he also had 14 homeruns his junior year.”

White marked Scioneaux’s change from a good pitcher to great pitcher in his senior year.

“Once he got to his senior year I knew the sky was the limit. He was out there throwing low 90s and schooling big baseball programs,” White said. “I am not going to lie and say the first time I saw him I could see he had the ability to play pro ball.”

While Scioneaux was seeing success on the field White said he was the ultimate locker room leader and never changed the way he acted of the field.

“He was the best player on our high school team I coached and you would never know it,” White said. “By the way he treated everyone around the locker room. He was an unbelievable teammate and I wish I could have another one like that.”

By the time he got to SLU Scioneaux was throwing in the mid 90s and White expects him to keep getting better.

“This is the first guy I’ve ever coached who is playing minor league ball,” White said. “I’ve had several guys I’ve coached who have played college ball, but he is the first guy to make it to the minors. It will be pretty neat to watch Tate go up the ladder with baseball.“

Scioneaux has been relegated to the West Virginia Black Bears located in Morgantown, W.V. where he will begin his minor league career.