Trading Bases

Former Desrehan High School star leaves the minor leagues to caoch for St. Charles Parish

Photo provided by Randy Roth

CHANGES. Randy Roth, former minor league baseball player and new assistant director over parish recreation, says that he takes his job seriously and wants to make parish athletes the best they can be.

After nearly three years of playing minor league baseball, Destrehan’s Randy Roth is trading in the mit for a chance to mold parish althetes into better players as assistant director over the St. Charles Parish Recreation Department.

Roth, who started playing for the St. Louis Cardnials’ minor league organization when he was a senior at Southeastern Louisiana University, says that he cut his baseball career short simply becuase there was more that he wanted to do with his life.

“Traveling the country on a bus with a few of your closest friends and playing baseball was a great experience,” said Roth. “But there was more that I wanted. I wanted to make more money. I wanted to finish college. I wanted to have a real job.”

Roth has now been overseeing the recreation department as assistant director for four months and says that he has big plans for parish sports.

“My goal is to make every average athlete better and every good athlete great,” said Roth. “It’s not only about winning. It’s about improving althletic development.”

And with a stint of college and minor league baseball under his belt, Roth has nearly the picture-perfect resume for the job.

“I have a knowledge of sports on both a college and professional level,” said Roth. “And I’m going to use what I know to help kids in this parish become the best althletes they can be.”

Roth is best known in the minor leagues for his defensive plays on second and third bases, but made a name for himself at the plate while playing for the Quad-Cities Swing in Davenport, Iowa.

“I owe a lot of what I knw about baseball to St. Charles Parish,” said Roth. “Growning up, the recreation department was great. We competed everyday and in every aspect of the game. It was good baseball.”

Roth says that he wants parish kids to be the best they can be.

“I want to teach our young athletes the skills they’ll need in order to develop and improve their game over the years, regardless of the sport,” said Roth. “I want them to be able to achieve any sports goal they might have.”