Thibodaux natives having Division I collegiate success | Local News

Tyler Weimer

Our Bayou Region is a hotbed for athletic talent. 

And right now, three boys with Thibodaux in their blood are all having big success for their respective college baseball teams.

Three Thibodaux boys – E.D. White graduates Tyler Weimer and Matt Melancon and Thibodaux High graduate Brody Trosclair – are all having Division I College Baseball successes this season to help their teams.

In this past week, Trosclair got a win as the Friday night starter for Northwestern in just his true freshman season. Weimer got a win on the mound for Arkansas State against nationally ranked Southern Miss, extending a long scoreless innings streak for the sophomore power righty. And Melancon had multiple multi-hit games for Nicholls – showcasing what many in our area already knew: this area is an absolute hotbed for talent.

“It’s amazing to see,” said Shane Trosclair, Thibodaux High School baseball coach and the father of Brody Trosclair. “To see guys have this kind of success from Thibodaux, Chackbay, Vacherie – all of our surrounding communities where these kids grew up and played ball growing up, it’s just amazing and it’s an absolute blessing. The amount of text messages we have received is just incredible. It’s great to see all of the love and support the boys are getting.”

Brody Trosclair

For Trosclair, he has taken the Southland Conference by storm, yes, but it’s not necessarily by surprise.

The Thibodaux graduate was the Preseason Southland Conference Freshman of the Year, which placed big expectations on the local product.

But not even the early prognosticators could have predicted just how good Trosclair would be.

In 7 appearances with the Demons, he is 3-0 with a minuscule 0.45 ERA. In 20 innings, he has 31 strikeouts and opponents are hitting just .197 against him. 

Trosclair’s first 6 appearances were in relief. 

On Friday, he got the ball for the first time collegiately as a starter and worked 6.1 innings, allowing just 1 run and scattering 5 hits, while striking out 8 for a Demons team that won the game over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. 

It is widely expected that Trosclair will stay in his role as a Friday night starter. If he does, he will get the chance to pitch in Thibodaux on March 27 against Nicholls. 

For Weimer, he is also thriving – this in his second go-round for Arkansas State.

The 6-foot, 2-inch, 205-pound power righty struggled a little last season for the Red Wolves, logging a 1-1 record with a 6.59 ERA in 13 appearances. 

But this year, Weimer has been lights out. 

After allowing runs in his first two appearances of the season, the E.D. White graduate has posted 19-straight shutout innings over 6 appearances, including 1.1 shutout innings over nationally ranked Southern Miss this past weekend to earn a win.

For the season, Weimer is 3-0 with a 1.11 ERA in 24.1 innings pitched, having struck out 22 and scattering just 13 hits. 

He is one of the most reliable relief arms for an Arkansas State team that is 14-6 and that has already beaten nationally ranked foes like Arkansas and Southern Miss on the season – a team that is expected to be a contender in the Sun Belt Conference. 

The difference for Weimer this year versus last is his location. He is throwing more early-count strikes with a slightly higher velocity. That is allowing him to better dictate the pace of the at-bat to hitters and record outs. 

Matt Melancon

For Melancon, he started the season as a reserve outfielder for Nicholls in his redshirt sophomore season.

He got inserted into the starting lineup for a spot start against Tennessee Martin.

He hasn’t sat since.

Melancon is scorching for Nicholls, hitting close to .400 on the season.

In his first 10 starts of the season, Melancon logged 4 multi-hit games and had hits in 8 of the 10 contests. 

Melancon has moved from the bottom of the order to the top and has also shifted to center field for the Colonels where he has flashed his glove, including a highlight reel catch last weekend against UT-Rio Grande Valley. 

Melancon is a former multi-sport standout at E.D. White who also has played both football and baseball at Nicholls.

The outfielder is focused solely on baseball for now and is making his mark on the Southland Conference.