Christmas indeed has come early for the LSU Baseball program.

Wednesday night the Tigers received a verbal commitment from infielder/pitcher Gavin Guidry out of Barbe High School. The class of 2022 product is widely considered the top prospect in the state of Louisiana and one of the best 2022 prospects in the country.

In a 2020 COVID-19-shortened season Gudiry was 1-0 on the mound with a 0.00 ERA, striking out 25 and walking only four in 14 innings of work. At the plate, he hit .300 with a home run and nine runs driven in with five stolen bases in his first varsity season at the state’s premier prep baseball program in Lake Charles.

“I actually made my decision on Tuesday and talked with (recruiting coordinator) Nolan Cain late last night,” Guidry said. “I was finally able to talk with Coach Maineiri this morning as well as the Mississippi State coaches, which I chose LSU over.

“Nothing in particular happened, but probably over the last two weeks LSU just started to feel like home. I actually texted my parents during school and told them I was ready to make my decision. They came and checked me out. We went and ate lunch and talked about it. We feel like it was the right decision.”

With offers from the best baseball teams in the country, Guidry said in the end that playing in Baton Rouge just felt right.

“It’s home,” he said. “It’s the place where I’m supposed to be. It’s very hard for a Louisiana kid not to pick LSU. Coach Cain and I have an extremely good relationship. Coach Maineiri and I, every time we did get the chance to talk, he just seems like a very sincere man.

“The other thing about LSU is that it has a very similar style to what Barbe has. I may be wrong because I’m not there yet, but honestly I feel like when I arrive at LSU it feels like it will be a continuation of what I’m doing right now in high school.”

While he hopes to have the opportunity to both pitch and hit at LSU like his former teammate and 2020 Louisiana Gatorade Player of the Year Brody Drost, Guidry said he is ready to do whatever he is called upon to do once he arrives on campus.

“The mindset is to try and do both early,” he said. “I would love to be able to pitch and hit, but I’ll do whatever the coaches want me to do.”

Projected to play the left side of the infield on the next level, Guidry said his recruiting process is done.

“It’s over,” he said of his progress. “100-percent over.”