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Franklinton pitching coach Clay Tageant has been selected the 2021 Class 4A Assistant Coach of the Year by the Louisiana Baseball Coaches Association.

Tageant received the award at the Hall of Fame Banquet on Friday in Lafayette.

“A lot of assistant coaches could probably tell you that assistant coaches don’t get acknowledged,” Tageant said. “Assistant coaches don’t usually get interviews, but having my work getting acknowledged says a lot of about the talent we had last year. It says a lot about our pitching staff, them buying in and us getting to the quarterfinals. My entire life, I’ve wanted to be an assistant for my dad (Jeff Tageant) and work for him. It’s definitely rewarding. My ambition is not to be a head coach, but to be an assistant for my dad. To be acknowledged in a very competitive Class 4A is very humbling and I’m honored to be assistant coach of the year.”

Tageant’s father and Franklinton coach Jeff Tageant spoke highly about his son Clay Tageant.

“I think it’s a great accomplishment being the only assistant coach that got it,” Jeff Tageant said. “It was an award where the statistics backed it up. The pitching staff pitched great. I think our ERA was 2.22. Clay did a lot to have them prepared. It’s not just something that was done during baseball season, it was done year round. It’s a privilege to coach with your son. I’ve had the honor to coach with both of my sons (Evan Tageant and Clay Tageant) and it’s very special.”

Tageant was also named the Class 1A Coach of the Year Award in the spring 2017 when he was the head coach at Varnado.

Tageant, who is a 2011 Franklinton High School graduate, has been at Franklinton since the fall of 2017.