'Company Man': Ascension Episcopal junior, two-sport standout Hayden Pearson goes all out in each endeavor

Pearson plays tailback on football team, but his future is with baseball

YOUNGSVILLE, LOUISIANA - Ascension Episcopal baseball coach Lonny Landry affectionately refers to Hayden Pearson as a company man. 

Pearson, a junior dual-sport standout at the Lafayette Parish school, is willing to go the extra mile in every endeavor. It's that dedication, combined with natural talent, that enabled Pearson to receive a scholarship offer from the University of Louisiana in baseball.

"Hayden does whatever you ask him to do," Landry said. "He puts his nose down to the grindstone."

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Pearson (6-foot, 200 pounds) is the starting tailback for the school's football team, which has a 2-2 record. As a sophomore, he carried 73 times for 324 yards with six TDs while sharing snaps.

He rushed for 81 yards on 11 carries with three TDs in the first half of a district win against Delcambre and played quarterback in the second half.

This year, he's getting more touches. In a Week 3 win over Patterson, Pearson ran for 127 yards on 20 attempts with a TD. Earlier in his career, he was exclusively a quarterback.

"You can tell how much he cares," Blue Gators' football coach Stephen Hearen said. "He's a competitor, a hard worker and is a fun guy to coach.

"Hayden is a big-time weight room guy. He has good feet, good speed and good body control for a big guy."

"I love the team atmosphere of football," Pearson said. "With it being a physical sport, it keeps my body in shape.

"When baseball comes around, I'm ready to go. It helps with mental toughness, too."

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Pearson models himself after former Blue Gator football/baseball standouts Blaise Blancher and Austin Mills, who are both playing collegiate baseball. Mills was a receiver. Blancher, like Pearson, was a tailback.

"I looked up to Blaise for the way he worked extremely hard," Pearson said. "He loved to be out there on the football field. Austin was the same way, and they were best friends."

Pearson verbally committed to the local Ragin' Cajuns in August. He has known new UL pitching coach Gunner Leger for years.

The addition of Leger to the Cajuns' staff made it an easy decision.

Ascension Episcopal junior Hayden Pearson recently committed to play baseball at the University of Louisiana. 

"One of the main things was the history and culture of the program," he said. "I've worked with Coach Leger the past few years. I know he and Coach Lonny will develop me.

"My family and I sat in (UL head coach Matt Deggs') office for what was supposed to be a 30-minute meeting. We ended up talking for three hours. I learned a lot about who he is as a person."

The highlight of Pearson's sophomore year in baseball was a shutout of Catholic-New Iberia in a crucial district game. During his summer stint with Team Louisiana, he was roughed up for three runs in the first inning against a team from Florida.

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Pearson shut out the Florida opponent the rest of the game. The resilience he showed stuck with him. He patterns himself after former Major League Baseball pitcher Phil Devey, who played for the Cajuns in college.

"He has a son in my grade," Pearson said. "He has an amazing story, the way he came down here from Canada and got on the team."

Landry is expecting big things from Pearson, who was part of a senior-laden pitching staff last season.

"I've seen a monumental change in his mental toughness," Landry said. "His fastball got up to 88-89 miles per hour this summer. He pitched lights out."

Photo of Ascension Episcopal tailback Hayden Pearson (with ball) by Brad Kemp, The Acadiana Advocate 

-- Mike Coppage | @SBLiveLA