C.J. Estave has verbally committed to attend the University of New Orleans and play baseball for the Privateers in the 2019 season.
“I always wanted to play D-I baseball and they gave me the opportunity to play,” Estave said. “It’s a good program. Blake Dean has turned that program around. Ever since he’s gotten there, they’ve gone from winning three (conference) games to 16.”
Estave talked about the other factors that played into his decision.
“Facility was nice and it’s close to home and I felt like I have an opportunity to steal a job at the catching position and go in and play,” Estave said.
Estave graduated from Franklinton in 2016 and is catching at Copiah-Lincoln Community College in Wesson, Miss., where he is entering his sophomore season.
Last year, Estave hit .270 with four homers and 25 runs batted in. Estave doubled 10 times, scored 11 runs and got hit 10 times. He reached base at a .443 clip and slugged .414 over 46 games.
When asked about his strength, he said it is receiving and blocking.
“I’m real good defensively. Everything about my defensive part has always been strong,” Estave said.
Estave said when he made the move from high school to college ball, he had to slow the game down.
“It wasn’t really a tough transition from high school ball to college ball. I just had to slow the game down,” Estave said.
Estave is majoring in general studies and plans on going into kinesiology.