University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
No. 8 Cajuns Dominate All-Louisiana Softball Awards
5/31/2003 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Saturday, May 31, 2003
LAFAYETTE
– Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns softball team, which
advanced to the Women's College World Series last
weekend for the fourth time in program history and
finished ranked No. 8 in the nation, took home four of
the top honors on the 2003 All-Louisiana softball team,
sponsored by the Louisiana Sports Writers Association (LSWA).Senior All-American Becky McMurtry was named Hitter of the Year, sophomore pitcher Brooke Mitchell was Pitcher of the Year, Danyele Gomez garnered the Freshman of the Year honors while head coach Stefni Lotief was named Coach of the Year.
Louisiana-Lafayette, along with Louisiana State University, placed a state-best six players on the first and second teams, with Northwestern State and Centenary College placing three players each.
Louisiana College and Nicholls State each placed two on one of the two teams, while Louisiana-Monroe, McNeese State, Southeastern Louisiana and Louisiana Tech placed one player each on either the first or second team.
Nominations for the 2003 All-Louisiana softball team were made by the softball contacts from each school's sports information office. Voting was done by those contacts plus selected media members.
Of the 29 players to earn some recognition on the 2003 All-Louisiana softball team, 11 are residents of Louisiana.
UL
Lafayette third baseman Becky McMurtry was named Hitter
of the Year after batting .426 in the regular season
with 15 doubles, 13 home runs, and 49 runs batted in.
The senior from Nebraska was also named to the first team at third base, one of four Cajuns voted onto the first team.
McMurtry was also a 2003 NFCA All-American, a member of the 2003 NFCA All-South Region First Team and was named the Sun Belt Conference's Player of the Year for the second straight season.
The North Platte, Neb., native ended the season with a .396 average and wrapped up her two-year stay with UL Lafayette batting .402 which set a new career batting average mark besting the .391 of Tiffany Clark (1997-2000).
McMurtry recently graduated from Louisiana-Lafayette and was named the Most Outstanding Graduate for her college.
McMurtry's teammate Brooke Mitchell, a sophomore pitcher from Pasadena, Texas, was voted Pitcher of the Year.
Mitchell
finished the regular season with a 20-6 record and a
0.93 earned run average. She struck out 217 opposing
batters in 166 innings of work, tossing a perfect game,
two other no-hitters, and four complete-game one-hitters
during the season.
Mitchell will be best remembered for her stellar postseason performance which included a no-hitter in the NCAA Tournament opener against San Diego State and 32 strikeouts over 28 1/3 innings during the NCAA Region 6 in Fullerton, Calif.
She also set the school's single-season strikeout record with 279 breaking the old mark of 256 held by Cheryl Longeway and set in 1995.
Danyele Gomez, an outfielder from Metairie, was named Louisiana Freshman of the Year.
She
led the Cajuns with 17 home runs and 55 runs batted in
during the regular season.
At the College World Series, she hit a home run off of National Player of the Year Cat Osterman in the Cajuns' game against Texas, snapping the USA Softball Player of the Year's streak of 65 consecutive scoreless innings streak.
Gomez's home run total at the end of the season was 20 which set a new school single-season record and marked the first time a Cajuns player ended a season with 20 homers.
Gomez was named the Sun Belt Conference Freshman of the Year, was a 2003 NFCA All-American and was named to the 2003 NFCA All-South Region First Team.
The Cajuns were led by Louisiana Coach of the Year Stefni Lotief, who guided Louisiana-Lafayette to its third straight Sun Belt Conference regular season title and fourth straight SBC Tournament championship.
Lotief was able to lead the team to the College World Series despite having only six upperclassmen on a squad of 18 players. She guided the Cajuns to their first WCWS appearance since 1996 and the first in her head coaching career.
Lotief's
team finished the year 47-11 and qualified for its fifth
straight NCAA Tournament since 1999 and 13th in the last
14 years. The 40-win season was the Cajuns fifth
straight and 11th in the last 12 seasons.
Designated player Lauren Castle joins McMurtry, Mitchell and Gomez on the All-Louisiana first team. Castle did most of her damage in Sun Belt play, batting .478 with six runs batted in.
Catcher Joy Webre and pitcher Afton Thoms were voted onto the second team.
Webre posted a single-season career best 10 home runs and 34 RBI and picked off five baserunners.
Thoms,
a redshirt freshman from Baton Rouge, posted a 13-2
record with a 1.60 ERA in her first season in a Cajuns
uniform. She tossed a no-hitter of UL Monroe and picked
up two wins in the Western Kentucky series including
tossing a shutout in the Cajuns SBC regular season title
clinching win.
The All-Louisiana Awards mark the end of the postseason honors for UL Lafayette.
2003
LOUISIANA SPORTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION
ALL-LOUISIANA SOFTBALL TEAM
Catcher
Casey Goodman, UL-Monroe (1st)
Joy Webre, UL Lafayette (2nd)
First Base
Christy Connor, LSU (1st)
Lindsey Coleman, Nicholls State (2nd)
Second Base
Nicole Martin, Northwestern State (1st)
Trista Helverson, Louisiana College (2nd)
Third Base
Becky McMurtry, UL Lafayette (1st)
Julie Wiese, LSU (2nd)
Shortstop
Stephenie Denham, McNeese State (1st)
Ashley Walker, SE Louisiana (2nd)
Outfield
Danyele Gomez, UL Lafayette (1st)
Lindsey Danzy, Northwestern State (1st)
Camille Harris, LSU(1st)
Outfield
Brittany Stanley, Louisiana Tech (2nd)
LaDonia Hughes, LSU (2nd)
Sarina Noack, Northwestern State (2nd)
DP
Lauren Castle, UL Lafayette (1st)
Janis Kelley, Centenary College (2nd)
Utility Player
Tessa Lynam, LSU (1st)
Lauren Koehn, Centenary College (2nd)
Pitcher
Brooke Mitchell, UL Lafayette (1st)
Kristin Schmidt, LSU (1st)
Sandi Clark, Louisiana College (1st)
Pitcher
Afton Thoms, UL Lafayette (2nd)
Dione Meier, Nicholls State (2nd)
Cheyenne Daries, Centenary College (2nd)
HONORABLE MENTION: C-Karen Smith, SE Louisiana;
2B-Jordan Lansdale, Centenary College; P-Jessica Denham,
McNeese State
HITTER OF THE YEAR: Becky McMurtry, Louisiana-Lafayette
PITCHER OF THE YEAR: Brooke Mitchell, Louisiana-Lafayette
NEWCOMERS OF THE YEAR: LaDonia Hughes, LSU and Dione Meier, Nicholls State (Tied with six votes each)
FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR: Danyele Gomez, Louisiana-Lafayette
COACH OF THE YEAR: Stefni Lotief, Louisiana-Lafayette
-- Ragin' Cajuns --
