New Path To College: Live Oak Pitcher Sawyer Pruitt Excited About Being Ragin’ Cajun

by: William Weathers // GeauxPreps.com Contributor

A 1 ½ year commitment didn’t successfully get Live Oak pitcher Sawyer Pruitt to the finish line.

The state’s top-rated right-handed pitcher in the Class of 2025 had to do a little more heavy lifting to get there.

The 6-foot-6, 240-pound Pruitt encountered some recruiting mishaps when his long-time commitment to Ole Miss turned into a pledge to UL-Lafayette.

“The NCAA’s reducing rosters to a 34-man roster, so it didn’t work out with Ole Miss,” said Pruitt, who first selected the Rebels on April 23, 2023. “It was a shock, but you can’t get upset about it. You just have to move on. Once I posted it (on social media) and put it out to the public, it got really hectic. 

“A bunch of different schools started contacting me,” Pruitt said. “Ultimately, I had to narrow it down to where I wanted to go, whether it was in-state or out-of-state, mid-major or SEC. I had a lot of talks about it with my family and it led to UL.”

Pruitt plans to sign with the Ragin’ Cajuns on Nov. 14, two days before his scheduled official visit to the school.

Pruitt said he heard from 8-12 schools trying to sell their program and line him up for unofficial visits once he returned to the recruiting trail. He decided to look in-state and visited Tulane, Southeastern Louisiana, and UL-Lafayette which currently has six players on its roster from the Baton Rouge area under head coach Matt Deggs.

“That’s one of the things they were saying,” Pruitt said. “They want Louisiana kids, and I liked that. If you get a bunch of guys that are brought up the same way, we’re all from the South, once you put them all together it can get dangerous. You can tell that UL’s been a top 30 program in the country. They know how to get it done. They don’t have to go out of state to do it.”

The Cajuns (42-20) advanced to their third consecutive NCAA Regional and faced host Texas A&M in the regional championship game last May.

Deggs is now in his eighth season as head coach and will have former Cajun standout Gunner Leger as his pitching coach for a second year.

“I didn’t know much about their coaching staff,” Pruitt said. “I knew about the program and their success. The moment I got there and talked to all of the coaches, I just thought they were going to be the ones to take care of me. They were going to be the ones to develop me the best. That’s ultimately why I chose them. I really love what they do with their program. They develop people really well and put people in the league (MLB) and that’s the end goal.”

Live Oak baseball coach Jesse Cassard believes Pruitt’s in the perfect spot for his future. 

“Sawyer is headed to the right program,” Cassard said. “Coach Deggs and his staff at UL-Lafayette have built an incredible culture that attracts tough south Louisiana players. Sawyer will progress and compete at a high level. He should be a top-five round pick in the draft next summer, but I know he’s focused on his senior year and joining UL in the summer.”

Pruitt was a two-sport standout at Live Oak, playing quarterback in football and pitching in baseball. 

He wound up starting the final two games of his freshman year and got the starting nod in the Eagles’ Class 5A playoff game.

Pruitt was the team’s clear-cut starter as a sophomore and despite an inexperienced offensive line that allowed 26 sacks, he didn’t miss any time and completed 93 of 153 passes for 899 yards and three touchdowns.

When the Eagles experienced a head coaching change, Pruitt decided to focus on baseball where he was experiencing positive results. 

“When I started to get big in baseball my sophomore spring, we had a coaching change with the football team,” said Pruitt, who completed 58% of his passes (133 of 231) for 1,335 yards and 7 TDs overall. “I thought it would be best for me and my family to step away from it. I thought it was the best time because I loved the previous coach (Blane Westmoreland) that we had. They were bringing in a whole new staff. It benefited my future for the best. It was definitely hard.

“My freshman and sophomore year, I was mainly football,” Pruitt said. “That’s what I wanted to do in college. I’ve always played both sports, but after spring of my sophomore year, I started getting a lot of attention playing baseball. I decided that was going to be best for my future and that’s what I love to do.”

Pruitt was part of a Live Oak baseball team (30-8) that won the District 5-5A championship and advanced to the Division I non-select state quarterfinals. 

Pruitt continued to develop in the summer with the Louisiana Knights travel team, attracting attention from college recruiters and MLB scouts because of his size and competitive nature. His fastball, a four-seamer, has topped out at 93 miles per hour, while his array of other plus-pitches includes a change-up, curve, and slider.

Live Oak (20-10) repeated as district champions in 2023 and once again advanced to the identical round of the Division I non-select state playoffs, falling at Sam Houston for the second straight season.

“We lost in the quarterfinals again and it hurt,” he said. “I think our guys this year, with all of our returning seniors, I think we haven’t forgotten that feeling of the past two years. Losing to the same team in the same round, it stings and continues to sting. Our guys, every day we put a chip on our shoulder, and we work hard, and we don’t forget that feeling. This is the best we’ve felt about a team in forever. We’re prepared and work hard every day.”

Pruitt was named the Livington Parish Most Valuable Player, first-team All-District 5-5A, All-Metro, and first-team Class 5A All-State at utility. He had a 6-2 record with a 1.05 ERA with 88 strikeouts in 60 innings last season.

The commitment of Pruitt is the fifth for what’s shaping up to be a loaded Live Oak team in 2025. He joins outfielder Cal Cassard (Bossier Parish Community College), catcher Cooper Smith (Louisiana Tech), infielder Brock Davis (Northwestern State), and pitcher Trevor Hodges (Mississippi College).

The next choice facing Pruitt, though, will take place in eight months when Major League Baseball conducts its annual draft. 

With Pruitt competing in one of the state’s most competitive high school programs, coupled with his exposure with the La. Knights and the number of Perfect Game events they’ve participated in, his coach expects him to command at least Top 5-round attention.

Pruitt is focused on his senior year and will address his future once a professional team has made its choice and monetary offer. 

“Clearly if you want to go play college baseball the ultimate goal is to get to the league,” he said. “That’s clearly my goal. Whenever it gets closer and the time comes, it just depends on all the other outlying things. How high would I be drafted? The money” All that type of stuff. I’m 100% fine with going to UL. That’s why I committed there.”