Rosettta: Coleman ready to make memories

• By RANDY ROSETTA
• Advocate sportswriter
• Published: Jun 8, 2009

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Every now and then, a player comes along and contradicts the notion that one individual can’t make that big a difference in team sports.

John Brady had Darrel Mitchell in 2006. Les Miles had Glenn Dorsey in 2007. And Paul Mainieri has Louis Coleman right now.

Those are the kind of players who, above all else, are talented enough to make a major difference between the lines.

Coleman has certainly done that with 13 victories this season, seven after LSU losses and his last two clinching regional and super regional triumphs.

But what makes Coleman so special isn’t completely encompassed in statistics.

On a team flush with star power and players likely to make more of an impact on the next level, Coleman has played a huge role in making the 2009 season so memorable for the Tigers.

It’s his attitude, a willingness to take the mound whenever he’s been needed, his method of keeping a team’s collective heartbeat pumping so strongly that has made him — without question — LSU’s most valuable player this season.

That was exactly what Mainieri had in mind last summer, when Coleman came into his office one last time to let his coach know he was passing up a contract offer from the Washington Nationals, who drafted the Mississippi native in the 14th round of last year’s Major League Baseball draft.

That was the exact moment when Mainieri knew the Tigers were a contender to get back to Omaha, Neb., for the College World Series.

“I told him ‘Louis, it’s going to make all the difference in the world with our team. It’s the final piece of the puzzle. We’re going to go back to Omaha because of you,’ ” Mainieri recalled.

“Back to Omaha” has been a shared theme among the Tigers this season. It’s been a personal quest for Coleman.

He came back to LSU to go back to the College World Series. Period.

After he gave up an eighth-inning grand slam in a 7-3 loss to North Carolina in an elimination game last year in Omaha, Coleman didn’t dodge questions about his first loss of the season.