HAMMOND, La. – Junior first baseman Preston Faulkner is one of 12 Southeastern Louisiana baseball players currently competing in collegiate summer leagues designed to help players get repetitions, work on their skills and build confidence for live action during the school year.
 
Coming off an All-Conference caliber performance as a sophomore with 17 doubles, 11 home runs and 48 RBIs, the native of Denham Springs, Louisiana struggled at the plate during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.
 
"I was thinking too much and got way too far into my head," Faulkner said. "I couldn't relax at the plate and do what I was supposed to do."
 
The past month, he has wiped away the early-season blues with plenty of hard work.
 
"Summer has been going well," Faulkner said. "I finished rough during the season, but now I'm getting more quality ABs and seeing good pitching. I definitely feel more confident."
 
When the season shut down in mid-March, just like most people, he was left trying to figure out what was next.
 
"I had no idea what to think," Faulkner said. "I was wondering when we would play again. Yes, we're going to play. No, we're not going to play. It was crazy. Nobody had really experienced anything like this."
 
After a couple of months' worth of workouts at a local facility, Faulkner found a spot playing in the Honor the Game League. The upstart league, sponsored by Marucci Sports and run by the East Coast Sox organization, plays doubleheaders every Monday and Thursday at a rec complex in Meridian, Mississippi.
 
"It feels great," Faulkner said. "It had been a while since we got to play competitive baseball, and to be able to come out here against good competition, it's all we could ask for. I've enjoyed every second of it."
 
PLAYER UPDATES
Champ Artigues (Acadiana-TCL) was 7-for-23 (.304) on a recent six-game road trip, raising his average 53 points … Dalton Aspholm (Victoria-TCL) tossed a pair of scoreless innings in relief during a 15-3 team victory back on July 10 … Jacob Burke (Acadiana-TCL) went 3-for-5 at the plate with a double and an HBP in Friday's 15-12 team loss … Tyler Finke (St. Cloud-NWL) leads his team with a .313 batting average and blasted what proved to be a game-winning, two-run home run in Friday's 6-2 team victory … Christian Garcia has joined the Great Lakes Resorters of the Northwoods League … Bryce Grizzaffi (Victoria-TCL) has blasted a pair of home runs this summer while playing catcher, shortstop, outfield and pitching … Matt Taylor has joined the Royals squad in the Southeast Collegiate League, providing an immediate impact with a walk-off single in a 6-5 team victory this past Tuesday.
 
DIAMOND CLUB / S CLUB
Fans interested in becoming active supporters of the baseball program are encouraged to join the Diamond Club. Lion baseball alums are encouraged to join the exclusive S Club, which is restricted to Southeastern athletic letter winners.
 
All membership fees and donations to both the Diamond Club and S Club (baseball) are available for the exclusive use of the Southeastern baseball program. Membership information is available by contacting the Lion Athletics Association at laa@southeastern.edu or (985) 549-5091 or visiting www.LionUp.com.
  
SOCIAL MEDIA
For more information on Lions Baseball, follow @LionUpBaseball or @MattRiser17 on Twitter, @LionUpBaseball on Instagram and Facebook, and subscribe to the SLUathletics YouTube channel.