Flying like an Eagle

Scully named head softball coach at Menard
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ALEXANDRIA – When an opportunity knocks, there is a certain obligation to open the door.
That is just what Thomas Scully did.
The former assistant coach at Sacred Heart turned the knob on the opportunity door and swung it wide open as he was just recently named the head softball coach and assistant football coach for the Eagles of Holy Savior Menard High School in Alexandria. Along with those duties, Scully will also be the Director of Athletic Facilities along with teaching some classes.
“I am very excited about having the chance to come here and be a part of a long tradition of athletics,” stated Scully. “Being a head coach is a goal that I have always set for myself. Now, I have the opportunity to put my stamp on an already great softball program. I am definitely ready to begin.”
Scully, a 1990 Barbe High, Lake Charles, graduate, has always had the coaching bug inside of him. That bug was amplified even more because of his experience playing for legendary coach Jimmy Shaver in Buccaneer land.
“Coach Shaver was a huge influence in me wanting to be a coach,” stated Scully. “He was a mentor to me. I looked up to him because he took the time to teach every one of us about every aspect of the game. He was a great teacher of the game and of life, and he instilled that inside of me.”
Getting the chance to be around a tremendous mentor like Shaver sometimes involves a little thing called karma. For Scully, that opportunity did not come about until his junior year.
“I actually did not really play sports until I was 11 years old,” said Shiver. “So when I went to St. Louis High School my freshman year, I tried out for baseball but did not make the team because they had so much talent on the team and were winning multiple state championships. My junior year I transferred to Barbe and played baseball and football for them. In fact, I had to beg Coach Shaver to let me play baseball for Coach Glen Cecchini because he wanted his football players to focus on that sport. Still, I had to finish football workouts before I could go to baseball”
After Scully finished his senior season at Barbe, he went on to play one semester of baseball at Copiah Lincoln Community College in Wesson, Mississippi. After leaving Copiah Lincoln, Scully moved to Alexandria for a few years and tried to walk on at Louisiana College, but former Wildcat baseball coach Billy Allgood did not want him to play just baseball.
In 1992, Scully, along with his wife Sonia and his children, moved back to Lake Charles and began helping out his mentor at his alma mater as a CECP coach.
For the next 10 years plus, Scully was a member of the Buccaneer staff, doing everything from being a position coach to scouting next week’s opponent. While he lived in the city by the lake, Scully also coached his two oldest sons Dylan and Daniel in Little League baseball, fueling the passion for sports even further.
The move to Ville Platte came in 2006 when he was hired to be the store manager at Brown’s Furniture. Still having the desire and passion for coaching, Scully made his way on to the Sacred Heart staff as a CECP coach in football and softball in 2009. Coaching under Robert Davenport on the softball diamond allowed Scully to not only learn about the game and its nuances, but it also produced a zeal for sport.
“Being an assistant for Coach Davenport really exposed me to the game of softball,” commented Scully. “I learned a ton from him and the other assistants Greg Hebert, Bill Ramirez and Ginny Buller. From then on I just tried to soak in as much about softball as I could, and I am still learning more and more each day. Helping coach my daughter Sophia in the rec. league has continued to grow my love for the game. The game of softball reminds me a lot of football. Just like in football, the game is intense and moves at a really fast pace. You have to be proactive and not reactive.”
A change of policy in compensation for CECP coaches at Sacred Heart after the 2011 season caused Scully to have to relinquish his coaching duties on the high school level. However, during that time he was able to continue honing his coaching skills by volunteering for Dixie Youth baseball, coaching his son Dru, even making two trips to the World Series in 2012 and 2014.
Then, in 2014, Scully got the call once again to get back to the high school level at Sacred Heart. Scully was hired on at the school and became an assistant football coach, assistant girls’ basketball coach, and an assistant softball coach. It was also during this time that he was hired as the Director of the Evangeline Parish Recreational Complex. The combination of those two jobs helped prepare Scully for what lied ahead.
And once again it was karma that played a role in his chance at gaining the position at Menard.
“My brother was an assistant coach under the head coach Allison Frey,” stated Scully. “When she left after the end of this season to go to her alma mater Pineville, he told Allison that I was interested in the job. So, she talked to the athletic director and he said to send in my resume. A couple of weeks later the athletic director sent me a message that they were thinking about staying in house for the hire. I thought, oh well I gave it a try.”
“Another couple of weeks went by, and I got a call from the school,” Scully continued. “They told me that some things had fallen through and that they wanted to talk to me again. I went and met with the A.D. and the head football coach the following week. After going through the interview process they decided to hire me on. One of the biggest factors was that both Dru and Sophia are able to come and be a part of the school as well.”
For Scully, the journey into the world of being a head coach has just begun. Nevertheless, he is grateful to all of the people that have had a hand in putting him on his dream path.
“I just wish I could thank everyone that has had a hand in allowing me to get this opportunity,” said Scully. “I definitely want to thank the Sacred Heart community, the Mayor and the Recreational Board for taking a chance on me. It has been a great experience to be a part of it all. We are not moving away from Ville Platte, so I will still be around.”
Sacred Heart head football coach and athletic director Josh Harper had mixed emotions when talking about Scully’s departure from the school.
“Thomas is going to be very hard to replace,” said Harper. “He brought a lot to the table not just in terms of coaching but in his ability to connect to the players and his value as a role model. We will feel his loss, but I am super excited that he is getting this opportunity. I want to truly wish him the best in his new job.”
The loss of Scully on the Sacred Heart coaching staff will most definitely have an impact, but for now he will be flying like an Eagle over Alexandria.