Junior right fielder earns All-American status for the second time in her career

OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. – During the 2005 season Louisiana junior right fielder Danyele Gomez became the first player in the softball program’s history to reach 20 home runs in a season for a second time. On Thursday, she became the 11th Ragin’ Cajuns player to pick up an All-American honor for the second time.

A total of 54 players amongst all Division I schools were named to the 2005 Louisville Slugger/NFCA Division I All-America first, second and third teams. The awards were announced Thursday afternoon on ESPN between the opening two games of the NCAA Division I softball Women’s College World Series in Oklahoma City.

All three teams were selected by NFCA-member, NCAA Division I coaching representatives, based on nominations from the 2005 season.

Gomez, the 2005 Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year, was selected to the third team as a member of the outfield. Her selection marks the seventh straight season that at least one player from Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns softball team was named to the NFCA All-America Team.

The selection was the 34th in Louisiana-Lafayette softball history and since 1989. Louisiana-Lafayette has had at least one All-American in 16 of the last 17 seasons.

This season’s honor marked Gomez’s return to the NFCA Division I All-America team and was the second selection of her career. The Metairie native was a member of the 2003 NFCA Division I All-America team selected as a third-team member in her freshman season. Just like her freshman season, she was voted directly onto the team as opposed to being an at-large selection.

Gomez ended the season leading the Ragin’ Cajuns in base hits (65), doubles (11), home runs (20), RBI (64), total bases (136) and slugging percentage (.731). As of May 15, she ranked third in the NCAA stats for RBI per game and eighth in home runs per game.

The Cajuns’ power-hitter made her push and solidified her All-American selection with a stellar performance as the 2005 season came to a close. Over the last three weeks of regular season play she hit eight home runs, picked up 32 RBI, had a 1.078 slugging percentage and scored 16 runs.

She drew attention on the national level on April 26 when she was named the USA Softball National Player of the Week. Gomez finished the week of April 18-24 with a .526 batting average (10-for-19) collecting two doubles, three home runs and 14 RBI.

Her 65 RBI were a personal-best while her 136 total bases marked the second time in her career with 130-plus total bases (had 137 as a freshman in 2003). Gomez ended the season with 4 multi-home run games, 19 multi-hit games and 17 multi-RBI games.

On May 1 at Western Kentucky she joined elusive company with the 50th home run of her career. Gomez joined Alana Addison as the only two players in Louisiana-Lafayette history to reach 50-plus home runs in a career. Her current career total of 53 home runs in four shy of Addison’s school career record and ranks as the 20th-most in NCAA Division I history.

She secured the second 20-home run season of her career when she homered off of Oregon’s Amy Harris in the opening round of the Norman Regional on May 20. Her 2005 home run total included roundtrippers off of Arizona’s Alicia Hollowell Georgia’s Michelle Green, Arizona State’s Katie Burkhart and Long Beach State’s Marcel Torres.

A member of the 2005 NFCA South Region First Team, Gomez joined the Top 5 in school history for career home runs (53) and career RBI (178). Her 65 RBI were the fifth-most in a single season.

Since co-head coaches Stefni and Michael Lotief took over the Ragin’ Cajuns softball program in 2001, the Cajuns have received six All-America honors.

LOUISIANA SI