As he heads into Year No. 6 guiding the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns Softball program, head coach Gerry Glasco aims to continue molding his influx of young talent - the bulk from the No. 1 recruiting class that debuted in Spring 2022 - into a strong and durable national postseason contender.

"Our future is this freshman and sophomore class. They are really, really talented," Glasco remarked.

In the 2022 season, Glasco directed and mentored a lineup that featured at most two upperclassmen and as many as five freshmen, and developed them into a championship and NCAA Tournament team. He guided Louisiana (47-13, 23-4 Sun Belt) to third consecutive Sun Belt Conference regular season and tournament championship and the program's 23rd consecutive 40-win season, culminating in extending the storied program's streak of consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances (now 23 straight). Despite the youthfulness, Louisiana advanced to Championship Sunday of the NCAA Clemson Regional.

Fast forward to now, and the youthful Ragin' Cajuns group is a year wiser and still has many of the veteran pieces in place to form a dangerous combination. The three key pieces to last season's pitching success remain intact (Meghan Schorman, Kandra Lamb and Sam Landry) and all but two starters return.

"Team chemistry is critical and kids accepting roles will be key because some really good players will be role players and how they accept that will always be a challenge for us," he said. "We won't know how that will play out until we are into the season."

With the transition from the fall semester to spring semester currently underway, Glasco took a moment to reflect on how the team utilized the recent fall practice period to continue building upon the momentum that was in place when the team returned from summer break.


Q: With essentially the same team intact that finished last season, were you able to sense that the group picked up where they left off last spring?
GG: "We had a good fall, with growth and progress from several key players. I believe the freshman class is going to add to our level of play as well. This is encouraging because while we knew the sophomores and the upperclassman were talented, we weren't certain as to how much of an impact the freshmen would be able make this year.

The team definitely has tremendous chemistry which began to come together at the end of last spring. It has continued to grow throughout the fall and they are now a very cohesive ball club."

Q: You had to work around key players recovering from injury during the fall practice period. How did the coaching staff adjust and in what ways might that have benefitted the team as a whole?
GG: "We tried to make a positive out of the injuries by simply focusing on the positive. We realized that it would provide an opportunity to several different players to see increased repetitions and playing time due to some of our veteran players being on the disabled list.

We felt like we learned a lot about our team that was able to practice in the fall. We feel like it created more depth for us going into the January preseason."

Q: Looking at all three areas of the game - pitching, hitting and defense - describe the progress made, were your objectives met, and what will need to be prioritized when the team returns in January.
GG: "Pitching-wise, we were able to develop more depth in our bullpen. Karly Heath had a really good fall and freshman lefty Chloe Riassetto has shown that she's capable of throwing key innings for us this spring.

Although the injuries to Meghan Schorman and Kandra Lamb are short term, and definitely not expected to impact us at all in the spring, it's always a good feeling to know that you have additional depth in the circle. Sam Landry was able to get a lot of key innings in a leadership role, and she thrived in that position this fall.

Offensively, we experimented both with power lineups and speed lineups. I truly believe we can match up very well with whichever way we choose to play in the spring based upon an opponent, if need be.

Defensively, we found out that Victoria Valdez, Cecilia Vasquez and Mihyia Davis are all great additions to our defensive lineup. They will help us significantly improve defensively this spring. Sophie Piskos showed great improvement behind the plate throughout the fall as well."

Q: Of the players returning from the 2022 season, highlight those who made significant progress this fall session.
GG: "Samantha Graeter showed tremendous improvement before her injury in October - perhaps the most improvement of anyone from last season to this fall.

Karly Heath showed great improvement both at the plate and in the circle. Taylor Roman and Maddie Hayden both showed improvement in their offensive skill set this fall."

Q: After evaluating the newcomers during the fall practice period, who are the new faces fans should be on the lookout for this spring?
GG: "Mihyia Davis will definitely make a great impact on our ball club in the spring. We are beyond elated about her abilities both offensively and defensively. She is a very exciting player who will be very well received by the Ragin' Cajuns' passionate fans.

Cecilia Vasquez (Cissy) is an extremely talented middle infield defender who will provide a huge boost to our defensive alignment. She knows how to win. She will also prove to be a clutch hitter for us throughout her career.

Kylei Griffin is an extremely talented young athlete with phenomenal power at the plate and deceptive speed on the base paths. I am really excited to follow her and see her career unfold at Lamson Park."

Q: Choose a word that you would use to describe the style of play you expect the team to portray in the spring, and explain how that word best suits the group.
GG: "Determined!

We have a lot of athletes on our team at all positions who are determined to get the Ragin Cajun program back to Oklahoma City and make a great run in the postseason.

If we play intelligent, determined ball every day, both in practice and during games, this team has the talent to accomplish all of its goals."