Bent but not broken

Kaleb Fontenot wouldn’t allow himself to be depressed.
Early in his freshman season with the McNeese State Cowboys, the former Sacred Heart baseball star suffered an injury to his ulnar collateral ligament (UCL), which forced him to have Tommy John surgery (a procedure in which a surgeon replaces the ligament with a tendon from another part of the body).
The injury, and the medical procedure that followed, sidelined Fontenot for the remainder of the season, and his rehabilitation would be several months in length.
Yet, the now senior right-hander kept his head held high through it all.
“Feeling sorry for yourself has never accomplished anything,” Fontenot said. “One of those things you learn in life, is that the only thing you can control is what you are doing in the present.”
That attitude not only helped Fontenot recover from his injury but also helped him develop into the ace of the Cowboys’ pitching staff. In his four seasons with the Pokes, Fontenot has appeared in 47 games, pitched 273.3 innings, has posted an 18-11 record, thrown 240 strikeouts to only 79 walks and has a career ERA of 2.63.
“I can’t say enough good things about Kaleb,” McNeese head coach Justin Hill said. “He is a fierce competitor, great teammate, hard worker not to mention what he has done in the classroom and in our community. He has been a great example for our younger players, and I will miss him on so many levels.”
Fontenot was an all-state shortstop-pitcher at Sacred Heart and was named District MVP twice. He was leaning towards signing with the University of Louisiana at Monroe but then a coaching change occurred.
Fontenot would eventually sign to play at LSU at Eunice but then he attended the Texas Rangers Showcase Camp and caught the eye of McNeese State, who just so happened to have hired Cory Barton as assistant coach, the same man who recruited Fontenot to come to UL-M months earlier.
After much discussion with his parents Jonathan and Bridget Fontenot, Kaleb opted to decommit from LSU-E and instead play his college ball in Lake Charles.
Fontenot’s freshman season did not see him take the mound as a starter, but instead as a relief pitcher.
“I had no problems doing that,” Fontenot said. “I had never been a reliever but I knew that I could show them what I could. And I knew if I got the chance to start then I would take that and run with it.”
That chance never came to be that season due to the injury to his pitching elbow.
“I had gone the whole fall with no problems,” Fontenot said. “We take a break during the Christmas holiday to let our arms rest. After the break, one day I just felt this pull in my forearm. I took a couple weeks off.
“I got on the mound one day and I threw a pitch and it really stung. I couldn’t come back and throw on the mound. The UCL wasn’t torn off it but it was stretched. We tried rehabbing it without surgery for about two months but finally decided to have the surgery.”
Having the actual surgery, and fully recovering from it didn’t intimidate Fontenot. The biggest challenge he faced was how to handle all the down time following the surgery.
“The first thing I thought about was that I was not going to throw or do anything for five months,” Fontenot said. “I just thought man I have to sit out for five months.”
Early during his 10-11 months of rehab, Fontenot practiced squeezing a ball in his right hand to help reactivate his muscles, he then started bending his wrist when he got a smaller cast, and eventually moved on to working on his shoulder, triceps, biceps and forearm.
Fontenot completed his rehab and started his sophomore season in the bullpen but eventually became a starter as he appeared in 16 games, a year removed from surgery. That first time back on the mound though was filled with some anxiety.
“It was pretty nerve racking,” Fontenot said. “You throw a couple times during a inter-squad game but that is nothing like a real game with a crowd and the game actually mattering. That was stressful.”
The surgery did have a positive effect on Fontenot as it altered his game preparation.
“You always feel tight,” Fontenot said. “I would jog a mile to help get loose. It is a change in the way you prepare. You have to do things differently. You just can’t pick up a ball and throw anymore.”
It sure did appear that’s what Fontenot was doing earlier this season when he set a new school record for most consecutive scoreless innings. In a four-game stretch against Incarnate Word, Abilene Christian, Northwestern State and University of New Orleans, Fontenot went 3-0 and pitched 32.2 innings without surrendering a run.
“I was just throwing strikes and working the corner,” said Fontenot, who credits his catcher and infield defense for the streak. “I wasn’t staying in the middle of the plate. I had all my pitches going. There were some games I was throwing 10 pitches per inning. I almost felt like I was going and just throwing.”
“Watching Kaleb grow as a player and a person has been a true pleasure,” Barton said. “Being able to see him progress on a day to day basis is part of what makes coaching great. Not only on the baseball side of things but watching him turn into a man. I am very proud of the player and the person he has become because I know how hard he has worked and continues to work everyday to be the best.”
Fontenot and his teammates will now turn their attention to next week’s Southland Conference Tournament held at Constellation Field in Sugar Land, Texas. Despite having posting wins over five Power Five conference teams, (LSU, Houston, Baylor and Washington State), McNeese will likely need to win the SLC tournament to earn a berth in a NCAA Regional.
Fontenot, who has a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration and another in Management, believes that he and his teammates can do just that.
“When we were playing really great, getting those mid-week wins, everyone was on the same page,” Fontenot said. “We need to minimize the innings and scratch runs over on offense. In the conference tournament anyone can win. I think If I pitch well we win.”