Nederland pitcher Credeur becomes a Cardinal

Published 4:26 pm Wednesday, November 8, 2017

NEDERLAND — The Lamar baseball team has signed three Nederland pitchers in the past year alone, but that isn’t the start of a tradition.

“You go back to [assistant coach Kyle] Green, who pitched and coached at Lamar, coach Stephen Westbrook at Jasper, Eric Cammack, … and the list goes on and on,” Nederland baseball coach Bryan Spell said.

Braydon Credeur’s signing, however, is the continuation of that tradition.

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Credeur put his signature on the letter of intent Wednesday, the start of the fall signing period for many college sports. He’ll join recent Nederland graduates Chase Kemp and Brendan Dunkleberger in Beaumont next August.

“I’m just extremely blessed that I’ll be able to sign and go to Lamar, to continue my baseball career and go out there and have fun,” Credeur said.

Second-year Lamar head coach Will Davis has signed 11 players from Jefferson and Orange counties since his hire, with recent West Orange-Stark graduate and Lamar football quarterback Jack Dallas expected to join the team this winter. Port Neches-Groves’ Class 5A MVP, Josh Hranicky, is also joining the Cardinals for the 2019 season.

“It’s great to see our guys go to the next level anywhere,” Spell said. “Lamar’s starting to recognize the talent in our area, and they recognize coaches who were local guys going to Lamar. I was a local guy who went to Lamar.”

So is Wes Koch, Credeur’s coach with the Beaumont Gladiators club team since he was 12.

“When Braydon came to our organization, first of all, he was a great kid with great parents [who were] very supportive,” Koch said. “When you’re 12 years old, you don’t get specialized to be a position player or anything like that. When Braydon came to our organization, he just loved playing the game. … The main thing is, if these guys want to succeed like Braydon, go on to college and get scholarships and stuff like that, the first thing you have to do with baseball is just learn to love the game.”

Age 12 is when Credeur began his preparation for the Division I level, Spell said.

“It started long before he came into our program,” Spell said. “Playing baseball at the next level is a goal for anybody, and we’re extremely happy for him.

Credeur posted stellar numbers for the Bulldogs as a junior. He threw 51 strikeouts in 49 1/3 innings with a 2.98 earned-run average.

“We’re happy to have him for one more year, for sure,” Spell said.

Credeur also drew a scholarship offer from the University of Houston, which reached the championship round of NCAA regional on its home field.

While Lamar has yet to break a seven-year drought of an NCAA tournament appearance, the Cardinals remained solid on their interest in Credeur, helping him opt for his home team.

“The fact that, no matter what, they’ll be able to give me that scholarship. That was one of the biggest deciding factors.

I.C. Murrell: 549-8541. Twitter: @ICMurrellPANews

About I.C. Murrell

I.C. Murrell was promoted to editor of The News, effective Oct. 14, 2019. He previously served as sports editor since August 2015 and has won or shared eight first-place awards from state newspaper associations and corporations. He was born in Memphis, Tennessee, grew up mostly in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, and graduated from the University of Arkansas at Monticello.

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