Ole Miss Catcher Henri Lartigue Speaks on His Collegiate Career

Ole Miss catcher Henri Lartigue
Photo by Joshua McCoy/Ole Miss Athletics@olemisspix

Ole Miss junior catcher Henri Lartigue has been a key component in the Ole Miss lineup this season. He has been a tough out in the order.

Baseball has been a part of Lartigue’s life for as long as he can recall.

He said, “I have always been playing baseball. I have older brothers and they played. It was always like a competition with them growing up with what ever we were playing. I got really invested in baseball when I started switch hitting when I was young and that was just something that I spent so much time on that when it came time for me to decide what I really want to play… it was baseball.”

Lartigue comes to Ole Miss from Southaven, Mississippi where he played his at high school ball for Southaven. As a senior, he hit .345 with 38 RBI, 14 doubles and two triples also helping lead them to a state championship in 2013.

Now as a Diamond Rebel, Lartigue models his game after a skilled defensive catcher from the Saint Louis Cardinals.

He said, “A guy that has really appealed to me is Yadier Molina. He always has been a defensive first catcher. That’s always how you have to be as a catcher. Be able to be the guy behind home plate that the pitchers have confidence in and want to throw too.  It seems like he has been able to do that for a really long time now. If you can hit, that is always an extra.”

The Ole Miss baseball coaches are key in his athletic career for his dreams of becoming a catcher in the big leagues.

He said, “Our coaches are great and they are all catchers, so they have always (have) great advice and they are always there to help. They have helped a lot too.”

With guidance from the coaches, Lartigue has made progression this season in batting, too.

He said, “Obviously at the plate, just from a stats standpoint, I am hitting a .100 points better than last year, but I really don’t think it was a mechanical issue. (I) change my approach a little bit, try to simplify things and hit the ball up the middle of the field and have a good at bat overall. I think (those methods have) just helped out a lot.”

This season at the plate, Lartigue is hitting .348 and 8 doubles with two home runs while driving in 20 RBI.

“The pitchers are much better now so it could be a little bit more difficult to catch at times.” Lartigue said, “So it’s really just getting back there and playing and you have got to put in the work though ’cause when you get out there, you don’t want to be nervous like ‘Oh, is he going to steal?’ or ‘Oh, I hope he doesn’t throw it in the dirt.’ Just from then on, you have to play and react. It’s just logging in the hours, coming ready to work every day.”

Lartigue and the Diamond Rebels return to Swayze Field this Wednesday night, May 4, to host Arkansas Pine Bluff at 6:30 p.m. The game will be on SEC Network+ or can be heard on the Ole Miss Radio Network.

Adam Brown is the sports editor at HottyToddy.com. He can be reached at adam.brown@hottytoddy.com.

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