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ULM L Club Sports Hall of Fame Spotlight: Smoke Laval

ULM L Club Sports Hall of Fame Spotlight: Smoke Laval

Baseball Oct 13
By ULMWarhawks.com Online Columnist Paul Letlow

Ray "Smoke" Laval rekindled the fire of ULM baseball.

Sure, the program had some history. The late 1960s with pitching legend Tom Brown and Co. Coming within one game of winning the 1970 NAIA National Championship. The 1980s, with an NCAA Regional appearance under Lou St. Amant, and the evolution of future All-Star pitcher Chuck Finley.

But by the time Laval arrived in Monroe, Louisiana, the former Northeast Louisiana University baseball program needed some work. It had been 10 years since the last regional appearance in 1983 and the team endured five losing seasons between 1987 and 1993.

Enter Laval, who after serving as Skip Bertman's top assistant for a decade at LSU, was eager to fan the flames of his own operation. He implemented "The System," an approach to the game he learned from Bertman which meant playing pitch-by-pitch, fundamental baseball, always knowing the current situation and aggressiveness.

He developed local players like Corey Taylor, Michael Harvey and Tommy Lewis into collegiate stars. And sooner than anybody really expected, he was winning.

ULM's baseball coach from 1994 through 2000, Laval compiled a 241-159 record in seven seasons. His teams made three NCAA Regional appearances (1995, 1999, 2000), won two Southland Conference (regular-season) Championships (1999 and 2000) and one Southland Conference Tournament Championship (1995).

Laval's teams won a school-record 41 games twice (1996 and 2000) and the third most with 37 in1995. Two of the five largest crowds in Warhawk Field history came during his tenure.

"Smoke loved the game and he loved to win too," said former ULM All-America pitcher Ben Sheets, who developed into a first-round draft pick under Laval. "Anyone who wasn't as invested or bought in as much as him probably didn't get him. But his number one priority when he was here was to win as many games as possible and try to get to Omaha."

For his impact in jumpstarting the program, Laval is part of the 2020 ULM L Club Sports Hall of Fame class. Originally selected in 2020, the class includes former football coach Dave Roberts and longtime assistant athletic trainer Robert Williamson. Their induction was delayed last fall due to COVID-19 protocols.

"I would not have changed a thing the whole time," said Laval, who will be presented by former provost Dr. Arlen Zander. "I was very fortunate. The local talent was very good for five or six years. It was a nice mesh. The kids bought in, the parents bought in, the community bought in. Outside help bought in, and with the administration and vision they had, they kind of let me run with it a little bit. We made some mistakes along the way, but I think we made more good moves than bad moves, thank goodness."

Laval brought impressive credentials to Monroe when he was hired in 1993, following St. Amant's retirement. He was Bertman's first assistant when he started at LSU in 1983, coached on LSU's first two National Championship teams in 1991 and 1993, and even recruited many players on the 1996 club that later won the title.

ULM was coming off a 13-26-1 campaign when Laval took over. Laval's first club in 1994 finished 20-33 but he made enough moves for a quick turnaround.

Laval remembers attending the Southland Conference meetings before the 1995 season. When the coaches were discussing the conference tournament schedule in Shreveport, Laval raised some objection because the proposed dates would be during finals week at his school. No one seemed to care or think it would matter in ULM's case.

They were wrong.

"I said, 'Don't be surprised. We're not bad,'" Laval recalled. "Everybody there laughed and giggled. Lo and behold, we end up winning the thing. That tournament win put us on the map in the conference. Then if I said we had finals or we didn't like doubleheaders on Saturday, they started listening."

The 1995 team provided the breakthrough season for Laval. Picked near the bottom in preseason polls, the club won 14 more games during the regular season than it had in 1994, then won the Southland Conference Tournament Championship.

"As a coach, I always envisioned winning," Laval said. "It happened very quickly. But the players bought in to the whole process, system, whatever you want to call it."

The tournament title put ULM into an NCAA Regional for the first time in 12 years. Playing at LSU's Alex Box Stadium, Laval and Co., put a scare into No. 1 Cal State Fullerton before falling 7-6 to the eventual 1995 National Champions. Although the team was eliminated by Central Michigan, the program was on the upswing.

Out of Bertman's shadow, Laval created his own legacy at ULM. The team finished 41-19 in 1996 and claimed the Southland's regular-season championship but wasn't selected for an at-large regional bid.

"It started catching on and the community really bought in," Laval said. "That was my best time in coaching, all the way through. First year, all the way through. I have no regrets, wouldn't change a thing or take anything back. It worked."

Laval would reach those heights again in 1999 and 2000, thanks to talented teams that included players like ULM Hall of Fame pitchers like Ben Sheets and Kenny Holubec and hit machine Willie Core.

"He believed in himself," Sheets said. "He was an arrogant coach, and I mean that in the best way. He didn't think anyone was a better coach than him and that made you believe too."

Sheets finished 14-1 with 158 strikeouts in 1999 as ULM won the Southland's regular-season championship with a 19-7 mark and received an at-large invitation to the NCAA Regional in Baton Rouge.

A year later, Holubec finished 12-2 with 162 strikeouts in 2000 during a 41-22 campaign and beat New Orleans in the Baton Rouge Regional for ULM's first NCAA Regional win.

"It wasn't like one-hit wonder," Laval said. "Once we started winning, the community bought in. It was something fun, something to do. We were exciting. We could pitch it a little bit, hit homers, steal bases. I'd say we did it with pretty much local talent.

"Corey Taylor, he was pretty good. Michael Harvey was pretty good. Lewis was pretty good, and those guys were right there in your own backyard. That even made it more fun."

Laval's success in Monroe put in in position to eventually succeed Bertman as head coach at LSU. He left Monroe after the 2000 season to become LSU's administrative assistant in 2001, before taking over the Tigers in 2002.

"I think he had the biggest vision out of most people who were here," Sheets said. "Just being the biggest fish in a small pond wasn't good enough for him. Even though he was here at ULM, it didn't matter to him. He was confident enough to think if he was recruiting his players, it's his guys and his team and he should win the game."

Although he made several stops after ULM, Laval though still cherishes his Monroe years.

'It's right there at the top of my list," Laval said "Number one, it was my first head coaching experience. So the championships and all that, and watching the kids go from rags to riches, so to speak. It was my first one.

"Don't get me wrong; going to Omaha and so forth, that's a blast. And winning the National Championship. But this kind of has my name on it a little bit."

To go: Hall of Fame weekend is highlighted by the enshrinement brunch at 10 a.m. Saturday at Bayou Pointe on the ULM campus. The inductees will also be recognized during ULM's home football game against Liberty University later that day.

For information on attending the ULM L Club Sports Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, please contact the Alumni Association at (318) 342-5420 or by email at alumniassociation@ulm.edu.

Tickets are $25 and may be purchased online at ulm.edu/alumni.
 
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