The Book: 2003 Softball

[NewsCopy]

RAGIN' CAJUNS SOFTBALL SUMMMER CAMPS

The nationally ranked (Top 10) Ragin' Cajuns softball program, fresh off of an outing at the Women's College World Series, will be hosting its annual summer softball camps at Lady Cajun Park during the month of June.

You saw them go up against the best in the country on national television. Now you can meet and greet them in person and learn tips from some of the best collegiate softball players in the nation.

Head coach Stefni Lotief and her staff will be welcoming girls of all ages for two camps to be held June 9-13 and June 16-20.

The camp will cover all fundamentals of softball. Individual skills including, but not limited to, fielding, hitting, pitching and throwing will be stressed.

Campers will be grouped according to age level and skill level. Team concepts and defense will be taught throughout the Ragin' Cajuns softball camp.

The first camp, June 9-13, will be for residential and commuter participants. The cost for overnight campers is $300 while commuter participants is $180. All overnight campers will be housed in Denbo Dorm on the Louisiana campus.

Camp check-in for overnight participants will be from 3:30-5:30 p.m.

Monday June 9. It will take place near the front entrance of the Denbo Dormitory. Commuters can meet and register at 8 a.m. June 10 at Lady Cajun Park.

Overnight participation includes three meals on campus. Commuters will be served lunch only.

A Skills and Drills camp will be offered June 16-20 with two different sessions. The Skills and Drills session will consist of specialized instruction specific to hitting/offense or defensive position work.

Session I will be held from 9 a.m. - Noon and will focus on defense (fielding, throwing, pitching).

Session II will be held from 1-4 p.m. and will focus on hitting and the offensive game.

The Skills and Drills camp will cost $50 per session and all campers are eligible for both sessions.

Campers are asked to bring softball cleats, tennis shoes, softball fielding glove, batting gloves & bat, knee pads, sunscreen, etc.

For more information or to request a camp brochure please visit www.ragincajuns.com and click on the softball page. Questions can also be addressed to the softball office at 337-482-6334 or 337-482-5167 or e-mail the office at lotiefm@bellsouth.net.

CAMP DATES
Ragin' Cajuns Softball Camp/Residential & Commuter
Monday, June 9 - Friday, June 13
Cost: Overnight - $300
Commuters - $180
Location: Lady Cajun Park and adjacent facilities located on Cajundome Blvd.

Ragin' Cajuns Softball Skills & Drills Camp
Monday, June 16 - Friday, June 20
Session I - defense (fielding, throwing, pitching)
9 a.m. - Noon
Session II - hitting/offense
1 p.m. - 4 p.m.
Cost: $50 per session (can register for both sessions)
Note: A limited number of participants will be accepted on a first paid-first-serve basis.
Location: Lady Cajun Park and adjacent facilities located on Cajundome Blvd.

LOUISIANA SI

[CDeb]

It would have been nice to have been ranked ahead of a team that we beat and who also went 0-2 in the WCWS.

Looks like they ranked the conferences instead.

[NewsCopy]

National No. 8 Louisiana takes home four top awards, Stefni Lotief named Coach of the Year

LOUISIANA La. - 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, 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 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 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 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.

LOUISIANA SI

[NewsCopy]

2003 LOUISIANA SPORTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION
ALL-LOUISIANA SOFTBALL TEAM

Position

Catcher
Casey Goodman, UL-Monroe (1st)
Joy Webre, UL (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 (1st)
Julie Wiese, LSU (2nd)

Shortstop
Stephenie Denham, McNeese State (1st)
Ashley Walker, SE Louisiana (2nd)

Outfield
Danyele Gomez, UL (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 (1st)
Janis Kelley, Centenary College (2nd)

Utility Player
Tessa Lynam, LSU(1st)
Lauren Koehn, Centenary College (2nd)

Pitcher
Brooke Mitchell, UL (1st)
Kristin Schmidt, LSU (1st)
Sandi Clark, Louisiana College (1st)

Pitcher
Afton Thoms, UL (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

PITCHER OF THE YEAR:
Brooke Mitchell, Louisiana

NEWCOMERS OF THE YEAR:
LaDonia Hughes, LSU and Dione Meier, Nicholls
State (Tied with six votes each)

FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR:
Danyele Gomez, Louisiana

COACH OF THE YEAR:
Stefni Lotief, Louisiana

LOUISIANA SI

[CDeb]

Jill Robertson being left off is a crime.

[sandra]

I may be late on my congratulations for the girls of Oklahoma, but dollar for dollar UL has the best softball program in the country. Geaux Geaux Geaux !!!

[NewsCopy]

Louisiana's softball program hosting camp next week, time running out to register

LOUISIANA La. - Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns softball program, a participant in the 2003 Women's College World Series and ranked No. 8 in the nation, will be hosting its annual summer softball camps with the first of two sessions to be held next week beginning on Monday, June 9.

The first session, which is for residential campers as well as commuters, will be conducted Monday, June 9-Friday, June 13.

Cost for the camp is $300 for overnight campers and $180 for commuters.

Time is running out to register and space is limited. Those interested in signing up should act quickly.

The camp serves as an excellent opportunity to learn tips about the game from some of the best players in the nation. You saw them on television at the World Series, now is the chance to meet them in person.

A registration form can be requested and you may register over the phone by calling the Louisiana-Lafayette Office of High School Relations at 337-482-6553.

A registration form can also be printed off of the Cajuns official athletics web site at www.ragincjauns.com.

The camp will cover all fundamentals of softball. Campers will be grouped according to age level and skill level.

Overnight campers will be served three meals on campus.

The second session will be held Monday, June 16-Friday, June 20 as the Cajuns conduct a Skills & Drills Camp.

All camp related questions should be directed to UL Lafayette's Office of High School Relations at 337-482-6553.

LOUISIANA SI