By Tom Dodge
Sports Editor
Alex Chapman has been named the new St. Edmund head softball coach.
Chapman, 29, is a 2010 Mamou graduate where he played baseball, basketball and football.
While he attended LSU Eunice, he was an assistant baseball coach at Mamou.
He returned to Mamou in 2016 as an assistant baseball coach before moving to Notre Dame in 2019 to become an assistant softball coach.
“I was drawn into softball in 2018 when I joined Dale Serie’s Hotshots travel team,” Chapman said. “The transition was really easy and I like softball because it is a lot faster game.”
Notre Dame’s softball team won the 2021 Div. III championship with a 15-0 victory over Menard.
The Lady Pioneers were 26-5 before the COVID-19 pandemic halted the season.
Notre Dame also captured the 2019 championship with a 7-3 win over Menard.
“I have been an assistant coach and now I want to lead my own program,” Chapman said. “I am looking for to spring practice and the season.
St. Edmund finished 15-9 overall this past season and the Lady Jays were third in district behind state runners-up Catholic of Pointe Coupee and Opelousas Catholic.
The Lady Jays were 11-1 and ranked fifth in the Division IV power rankings this season before COVID-19 stopped all spring sports in 2020.
St. Edmund won back-to-back district titles in 2018 and 2019.
The last time the Lady Jays advanced to the state tournament was in 2007.
“We have a great group of four seniors who will lead the way for us,” he said.
“Karleigh Soileau and Kennedy Ardoin have really stepped up as leaders,” he said. “Along with Rylie Johnson and Elizabeth McGee, this senior classs should be something special.
“I feel bad for them because they have had so many different coaches,” Chapman said. “It may hard for them to buy into another system with coaches leaving so often, but I want the seniors to go out on top.”
Since 2010, the Lady Jays have played for 10 different head coaches.
“I made it clear to Coach (James) Shiver and to Father Hampton (Davis) that I want to be here for the long run.”
Chapman said as much as he wants to see the Lady Jays win, he coaches for a bigger reason.
“To me it is not just about teaching them to be great players,” he said. “You are going to learn things about softball that will transition into your life.
“If you don’t give 110 percent on the field – who knows if you will do that in school,” the coach said. “I am trying to help them become better moms and wives in their futures.”
Chapman said that tradition runs big at St. Ed’s and there is pride to wear that Blue Jay jersey.
“You defend your dirt,” he said. “When you play at home, you don’t want to lose at home.
“But winning on the road is huge too beause once the playoffs come around, you will travel away from your home crowd.”
Chapman said the winning ways starts with the pre-season practices.
“I don’t think your midset shouldn’t change from the first game of the season until the first playoff game,” he said.
“The game should be fun and come natural,” the coach said.“If you do things the right way at practice hopefully that shows in the games.”