What a difference a year has made for LSU center fielder J.C. Holt.
At this time during the 2003 season, Holt was in the midst of a batting slump — hitting .254 and not playing every day in the Tigers batting order.
Holt was up and down with the bat all season, especially against left-handed pitchers — hitting .262 against left-handers for the year. He finished the season second on the team with 54 strikeouts.
“Last year, I didn’t have a real good year at all,” Holt said. “I probably put a little too much pressure on myself, and to be honest with you, I wasn’t enjoying playing baseball.”
This season is a different story for Holt, LSU’s leading hitter with a .418 batting average, four home runs, 31 RBIs and only 28 strikeouts.
LSU assistant coach Turtle Thomas said the biggest difference in Holt is his confidence at the plate.
“It’s nothing mechanical,” Thomas said. “Last season he was swinging at a lot of high fastballs, which no one can hit. A bunch of his strikeouts were on that.”
Holt’s turnaround at the plate actually began at the end of the 2003 season.
Holt said the key to his success was relaxing and not letting the game beat him.
“I started to relax and play ball. I took that approach to the summer and fall, and it’s carried over to this season. The game beat me last year. I was so mentally drained that I wasn’t having fun on the baseball diamond,” Holt said.
Holt started swinging the bat better toward the end of the season and finished with a .299 batting average with five home runs and 36 RBIs.
He hit .643 (9-for-14) in the Tigers’ NCAA Tournament Regional and was named Most Outstanding Player after hitting a double, triple, two home runs and eight RBIs with six runs scored.
Holt’s postseason success continued into the Cape Cod Baseball League during the summer. In the wooden bat Cape League, which traditionally has the best pitching in the country, Holt hit a blistering .388 with six doubles, one triple, one home run, 19 RBIs with the Brewster Whitecaps and was named Most Valuable Player of the league.
“It’s the best pitching in the country by far,” Thomas said.
Holt has been able to carry last summer’s success into this season, ranking second in the SEC in batting average behind Vanderbilt’s Warner Jones.
“It’s a credit to experience and getting a lot of games and at-bats in,” Thomas said.
The Sieper, La., native burst onto the scene as a freshman in 2002, when he was named to the Freshman All-America team by Collegiate Baseball and Baseball America after hitting .349 with three home runs and 23 RBIs.
In his three years at LSU, the 5-foot-9, 170-pound outfielder has been the most dangerous threat on the bases as well. He has stolen 38-of-45 bases in three seasons.
Thomas said Holt has been one of the Tigers’ main guys since he arrived as a freshman in 2002.
“He had a great freshman year, an up and down year last year and the rest is history,” Thomas said. “He’s got good bat speed, good hand and eye coordination and he has the ability to hit to all parts of the park.”