The 2025 top high school baseball player in Louisiana, according to Perfect Game, went to school and played ball five miles from Alex Box Stadium .

Second baseman Jack Ruckert has found himself in a starting role after a carousel of injuries and poor performance from guys who started the season in front of him on the depth chart. He's playing free.

"When I put this logo on my chest, it means everything to me," Ruckert said after LSU's win over Southeastern Louisiana. "Literally since I can remember, it's been my dream to play here. So it makes it that much easier going out there for however long and just trying to get better."

It might not have seemed like he would get to this point so early in his freshman year with how the beginning of the season started.

Early season defensive lapses

Jack Ruckert tags a runner in a game against Southeastern Louisiana | Matthew Hinton-Imagn Images

Ruckert and other freshmen or transfers without much playing time would enter early-season games in the fifth or sixth…