‘He is the standard’

Lane Burroughs couldn’t sleep.

And like any case of insomnia, his phone was where the eighthyear head coach of Louisiana Tech baseball turned to as he got up close to 2 a.m. But this wasn’t a late-night YouTube deep-dive.

He had to get his feelings out on a senior class that has reshaped Tech into a baseball powerhouse. He grabbed his phone and began to type a list of all the 2024 Bulldog seniors and add a corresponding word that fits their makeup.

“I said I’m going to get my phone out and write one word. Write the kid’s name down and put one word,” Burroughs said.

And there were a lot of big names on that list. Ethan Bates. Cole McConnell. Dalton Davis. Sam Brodersen. Adarius Myers. Kasten Furr. Reed Smith.

But one name was so cut and dry, paired with such an easy answer it didn’t stump Burroughs for even a second.

“Corona. I said ‘standard,’” Burroughs said. “ I told him what my word was. I told him, ‘ You’re the standard forever as a catcher at Louisiana Tech. You’re the best to ever do it here. Forever and ever, everybody’s going to be compared to you.’” High praise from a coach who’s recruited and coached future MLB draft picks and All- Conference USA selections, each with plenty of record-setting talent.

But Burroughs has a fair argument, not only that Corona is the greatest Louisiana Tech catcher ever, but he has a case as the best in the country — leaving his strongest season for last after five seasons in Ruston.

Corona holds a career- best .317 average this season with a career-best 77 hits to go with a career-best .572 slugging percentage and career-best 24 walks, along with 16 home runs and 51 RBIs.

Corona ranks second in career home runs (47), third in hits (261), fourth in RBIs (182), and first in caught-stealing (71) in Tech history.

In five seasons behind the dish, Corona has committed just five errors and has the most putouts (1,840) of any player in Tech history.

And with 236 games to his name, Corona has played the second-most of any Bulldog ever, trailing only Taylor Young (249).

Prior to Corona’s arrival in 2020, Mims Boyce was the only Tech catcher since 2000 to throw out at least 20 on the base paths with 23 caught stealing in 2005. Since then, Corona has reached the 20-plus threshold three times.

But Corona doesn’t think of his place in the pantheon of Tech greats. Instead, he reserves praise and gratitude for the fans who have made his five years in Ruston the greatest period of his life, leaving him emotional each time he discusses it.

“ I’ve loved every single moment of it. Five years here. Played a bunch,” Corona said. “Once you really look up into the stands and soak it all in, it’s going to be tough having to leave here and not being able to play anymore here. The fans have been great throughout these five years. We came here, and there wasn’t a field. They built this place, and it was way better than what we were going to come into. It’s been pretty much a sellout crowd every time. You do it for them. That’s why it’s going to be so hard.”

It is clear Corona is the best catcher in Tech history with his production at and behind the plate, but how does he fit in the national scope of the position? Short answer, he has a case to be the best of the lot.

Corona is the only catcher in Division I baseball with at least 16 home runs and 24 thrown out trying to steal a base. You didn’t read that wrong. There are 295 teams in Division I baseball. Corona is the only catcher with 16 homers and 24 runners thrown out on the base paths this year.

And what about those perceived as better — the 16 semifinalists for the 2024 Buster Posey National Collegiate Catcher of the Year?

Well, Corona has thrown out more runners trying to steal this season than any on the list and has more homers than 10 of the 16 semifinalists.

Connor Nation hasn’t even finished his first season at Tech as a relief pitcher, but even he can tell Corona is a different specimen in the catching ranks than what he’s had before.

After throwing a career-high 4 innings with a career- high 5 strikeouts in the CUSA Tournament against Liberty on May 25, Nation thanked his battery mate for guiding him through the highleverage moment.

“Jorge knows how to do it. He’s been around for, feels like forever,” Nation said. “He just knows how to help a pitcher out. He knows what to say whenever he talks to you. He knows how to calm you down. He’s done it for a long time. It helps a lot.”

Corona’s impact didn’t stop there in a do-or-die setting for the Bulldogs, as he came back five hours later against the Flames in the CUSA Semifinal with one of the most clutch hits of his career.

With Tech down 5-3 with two outs in the bottom of the eighth, Corona launched an opposite- field double to right, on a 2-2 count no less, scoring Dalton Davis and Cole McConnell to tie the game — eventually giving way to Grant Comeaux’s walk-off in the 10th.

“I think him (Corona) and Ethan (Bates) and (Adarius Myers) could run for mayor. Ronny Walker doesn’t need to get worried. But I think they could run for mayor, and they’d get a lot of votes,” Burroughs said. “That’s what the people around here think of those guys, and that’s what they mean to this community and this program.”

Corona’s impact seemingly wasn’t appreciated by others in CUSA, with the fifthyear Bulldog not making first or second team All- CUSA before the tournament, a snub so shocking Burroughs addressed it with the team the day before the start of the tournament.

What did Corona do in response? He hit .385 with 2 homers and a team-best 9 RBIs over the Bulldogs’ six tournament games — selected as the All-Tournament catcher.

And in his final moment at the Love Shack on Sunday, Burroughs took Corona out of the CUSA title game for a proper recognition, sending fans to their feet in an emotional ovation for the greatest catcher in Tech history. He saw his mom was one of many with a tear or two in their eye.

“My mom’s my number one fan,” Corona said, with tears welling up. “Always stuck with me — both my parents. My mom texts me every day about just going out there and being a warrior. My mom is probably the hardest worker here right now. She’s busted her ass all her life to give me the opportunity to play baseball and come here and everything. It means everything.

“ Committed here and we didn’t even have a field. What we have now, it’s the best in the conference,” he added. “It’s one of the best in the country. I just love it every day.”

Corona and the Bulldogs will start their NCAA postseason run in the Fayetteville Regional against Kansas State on Friday at 7 p.m.