Tracking the PRO Career of Corey Coles

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LOUISIANA La. — When Corey Coles came out of Comeaux High with little fanfare, he had no idea what kind of college career he was about to have.

The fact that he was drafted in the fifth round of Tuesday’s pro amateur baseball draft by the New York Mets is a pretty good indication that he exceeded his expectations.

The left-handed centerfielder/pitcher began his career with the Cajuns as a pitching before exploding onto the hitting scene as a sophomore when he led the team with a .368 batting average, six homers and 45 RBIs.

Coles again led the Cajuns at the plate this past spring at .371 with 18 doubles, seven triples, nine homers, 45 RBIs and 13 stolen bases.

“I didn’t expect to have that kind of a career,’’ Coles said. “In high school, I thought I was a good hitter, but I had no idea. I became a better hitter in college. My numbers got a lot better.’’

As the 139th overall selection, Coles’ gut feeling is that he’ll be forego his senior season at Louisiana to begin his professional baseball career.

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Kevin Foote
kfoote@theadvertiser.com

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CAJUNS' COLES AND TEMPLET SELECTED IN MLB AMATEUR DRAFT
Corey Coles drafted in the 5th round by New York Mets, Jordy Templet taken by Toronto in 17th round

LAFAYETTE - The University of Louisiana's baseball program had two players taken during Tuesday's first day of the 2003 Major League Baseball Amateur Draft.

Outfielder/pitcher Corey Coles was drafted in the fifth round by the National League's New York Mets at the 139th overall pick while fellow junior Jordy Templet was picked up by the Toronto Blue Jays of the American League in the 17th round at the 500th overall selection.

Both Coles and Templet have one year of eligibility remaining at Louisiana.

Coles was the third player from the Sun Belt Conference to be drafted following FIU's Josh Banks (Rnd. 2, #50 by Toronto) and Arkansas-Little Rock's Rick Guarno (Rnd. 4, #107 by Colorado).

Templet's selection gave the SBC eight players taken on the first day.

Both Coles and Templet were drafted before Sun Belt Conference Player and Newcomer of the Year Billy Becher of New Mexico State who wasn't taken until the 18th round by the Oakland A's despite a season of 32 home runs and 118 RBI.

Their selection marked the ninth straight year under head coach Tony Robichaux that the Cajuns have had at least two players drafted in the MLB Amateur Draft.

Coles established himself as one of the best double-threats in collegiate baseball at UL producing both at the plate and on the pitcher's mound.

Coles, a 2002 and 2003 All-Sun Belt Conference First Team performer for the Cajuns, led the Cajuns with a .371 batting average in 2003 and also had four saves and a 3.38 ERA to his credit.

The Lafayette native and Comeaux High School product led the Cajuns in hitting for the second straight season. He became the first player since Papo Ramos in 1991 and 1992 to lead the Cajuns in batting average in consecutive seasons (hit .368 as a sophomore).

Coles had 89 hits, which rank third all-time in a single season, and combined with his 85 hits as a sophomore total 174 over two years after spending his freshman season as a pitcher only.

Coles had 18 doubles, seven triples and nine home runs to give him 34 extra base hits in 2003. He had a .617 slugging percentage and stole 13 bases in 15 attempts.

Fielding-wise, he committed just two errors over 140 chances in the field for a .986 fielding percentage.

In conference play only, he hit .427 with a .748 slugging percentage.

He will be best remembered for his 10-for-14 performance at UNO in which he hit four home runs and drove in nine runs in leading Louisiana to its first three-game sweep of the Privateers at Maestri Field.

On the mound, Coles notched four saves and ended the season tossing 29 1/3 innings.

He struck out 30 batters and walked just six while surrendering just 11 earned runs.

He was credited with the save in the Cajuns Sun Belt Tournament wins over New Mexico State and Arkansas-Little Rock as Louisiana staved off elimination for two days before succumbing to eventual tournament champion Middle Tennessee.

Templet, a Gonzales native, developed as one of the Cajuns weekend starters this past season after being used mainly as a reliever in his freshman and sophomore campaigns.

He posted a 6-5 record with a 4.02 ERA while throwing 96 1/3 innings.

The East Ascension product joined the weekend rotation during the Cajuns three-game visit to the University of Houston and closed out the season as a weekend starter.

Templet struck out 83 batters and walked just 30 in 16 appearances and 14 starts. He had three complete games one of which was an eight-hit shutout of Florida International on April 19.

The three complete games were the first of his career in his first season as a member of the starting rotation.

Templet was also a member of the 2003 All-Sun Belt Conference First Team, marking the first All-Conference selection of his career.

He also saw time at shortstop early in the season. He started seven games before moving back into the pitching rotation full time.

The 50-round draft continues through Thursday.

LOUISIANA SI

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University of Louisiana star named to first team for the second straight season

MOBILE, Ala. - Louisiana's Ragin' Cajun baseball outfielder Corey Coles was one of five players to repeat as first-team selections for the 2003 American Baseball Coaches Association/Rawlings All-South Central Region Team announced on Tuesday.

Coles, a member of the 2003 first team, was a member of the first team in 2002.

First team members are now eligible for All-America status.

The Lafayette native and Comeaux High School product, a 2002 and 2003 All-Sun Belt Conference First Team performer for the Cajuns, led the Cajuns with a .371 batting average in 2003 and also had four saves and a 3.38 ERA to his credit.

He led the Cajuns in hitting for the second straight season in 2003. He became the first player since Papo Ramos in 1991 and 1992 to lead the Cajuns in batting average in consecutive seasons (hit .368 as a sophomore).

Coles had 89 hits, which rank third all-time in a single season, and combined with his 85 hits as a sophomore total 174 over two years after spending his freshman season as a pitcher only.

Coles had 18 doubles, seven triples and nine home runs to give him 34 extra base hits in 2003. He had a .617 slugging percentage and stole 13 bases in 15 attempts.

Fielding-wise, he committed just two errors over 140 chances in the field for a .986 fielding percentage.

In conference play only, he hit .427 with a .748 slugging percentage.

The South Central Region is comprised of 33 schools. Among the conferences represented are the Sun Belt (7 teams), Southland (10), Southwestern Athletic 10), Atlantic Sun (1), Conference USA (1) and the Western Athletic (1). The region also includes three independent programs (Centenary, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and Texas-Pan American. Head coaches in the region selected the two teams.

Fourteen players were chosen for the first team and 12 on the second team.

Southern University led the way with four selections. Lamar, Houston and South Alabama each had three.

LOUISIANA SI

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Below is a list of the first and second all-region squads.

FIRST TEAM
Pitcher: Brandon Hankins (Southwest Texas)
Pitcher: Brad Sullivan (Houston)
Pitcher: Jesse Floyd (Lamar)
Relief Pitcher: Ryan Wagner (Houston)
Catcher: Andrew Kasparek (Sam Houston State)
First Base: Humberto Aguilar (Texas A&M-CC)
Second Base: Rickie Weeks (Southern)
Third Base: Ryan Roberts (Texas Arlington)
Shortstop: Chuck Hickman (Nicholls State)
Designated Hitter: John Allen (Lamar)
Outfielder: Ryan Mulhern (South Alabama)
Outfielder: Ricardo Nanita (Florida International)
Outfielder: Jordan Foster (Lamar)
Outfielder: Corey Coles (Louisiana)

SECOND TEAM:
Pitchers: Josh Banks (Florida International), Clark Girardeau (South
Alabama), Dewon Day (Southern)
Relief Pitcher: Matt Wilhite (Western Kentucky)
Catcher: Rick Guarno (Arkansas-Little Rock)
First Base: Kevin Vital (Southern)
Second Base: Chris Taylor (Texas Arlington)
Third Base: Hyung Cho (Houston)
Shortstop: Brett Parker (South Alabama)
Designated Hitter: Justin Klinger (Samford)
Outfielders: Josh Boop (Northwestern State), Andrew Touissant (Southern)

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Corey Coles is batting .373

For his full stat sheet click button below once only

[Turner]

Nice to see Corey still batting .350 this deep into the season. He might have a shot at the next level.

[RaisingCajun08]

The Booklyn Cyclones are playing on TV right now. Directv Channel 624.

In the 3rd inning Corey just hit an RBI triple then scored as the ball went into the dugout.

[Turbine]

Record it, I'll make a clip.

[RaisingCajun08]

Sorry Turbine .. i am just getting your message. They are in the 8th inning now. I will have a tape in the vcr in case he comes up again.

[RaisingCajun08]

I just checked the schedule. They are showing a replay of the game tomorrow @ 11:00. I will program my VCR to tape it.

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The Suns would plate three runs in bottom of the fifth highlighted by a three run home from Corey Coles to make it 5-4.

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Portland relievers Phil Devey, Talley Haines and Cla Meredith combined to allow one hit over the final three innings

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