Xavier University of Louisiana’s Blair Frederick is the male recipient of the Red River Athletic Conference’s Etier Character Athlete of the Year award.
Frederick is a left-handed baseball pitcher, a New Orleanian and a graduate of Brother Martin High School. He recently concluded a two-year tenure with XULA, which revived baseball in 2021 after a 60-season absence.
“Blair Frederick is a leader by example. He is always on time and where he’s supposed to be,” XULA head coach Adrian Holloway said. “He participates in community service and has a high GPA in graduate school. He is very respectful of his teammates, coaches and umpires.”
Holloway also said: “Blair shows up to work every day. He puts in extra work, and he helps teammates with classwork or work at practice. Blair is an overall great guy. He’s a guy you’d like to see your daughter date.”
Frederick has an A-average at XULA as a curriculum and instruction major. He produced 200 service hours as a counselor in Miracle League baseball, which is designed for special needs kids ages 5-12. With the Gold Rush Frederick ranked 27th in the NAIA and third in the RRAC with 12.18 strikeouts per nine innings this year. Frederick finished the regular season strongly; he pitched seven-or-more innings, allowed three runs or less and got the victory in each of his final four starts — all against RRAC opponents in a series opener. Frederick’s ERA in those four starts was 1.86.
“My first thoughts about Blair Frederick are mature and calm,” XULA publicist Ed Cassiere said. “He’s also a bulldog on the field, an outstanding student and a great representative of Xavier and our baseball program.”
The awards were posthumously named for Betty Etier, an NAIA Hall of Fame member, the RRAC’s eligibility chair for 18 years and an associate professor and faculty athletics representative at Huston-Tillotson. The RRAC website said Etier “made a lasting impression on everyone involved in the RRAC and helped shape the conference from its beginning.”