Louisiana Softball Lands Six Signees From Class of 2025 Recruits

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The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns Softball program announced on Thursday the six student-athletes from the Class of 2025 recruits that have signed with head coach Alyson Habetz and her coaching staff to join the program beginning with the 2026 season.

Louisiana's Class of 2025 signees includes: shortstop/second baseman Haley Hart (Spanish Fort, Ala./Spanish Fort HS), pitcher Bailey Mackles (Slidell, La./Slidell HS), infielder/utility Kennedy Stutes (Lafayette, La./St. Thomas More HS), catcher Shyanne Irvin (Lafayette, La./St. Thomas More HS), catcher Natalie Johnson (Mint Hill, N.C./Independence HS) and infielder/utility Miki Watts (Loranger, La./Loranger HS).

Each future student-athlete will enroll at Louisiana beginning with the fall semester of the 2025-26 academic year which begins in August.

Hart, who has played shortstop for Spanish Fort (Ala.) High School's varsity squad since 2021, enters her senior season having accumulated 212 total hits, 183 runs scored, 47 doubles, 14 triples, 27 home runs, and 169 RBI and boasts a career .432 average.

A four-time all-county selection, Hart was named First Team All-State and Team Offensive MVP in 2024 after posting single-season bests of 72 hits, which included 18 doubles and 11 home runs, and 62 RBI.

Mackles is coming off a banner junior season for Slidell (La.) High School that saw her post 155 strikeouts and a 1.43 ERA in 93.1 innings. She allowed just 50 hits and 38 runs (only 19 earned) with a 12-5 record while stranding 105 runners.

Adding a .448 batting average to her stat line for 2024, Mackles was named First Team All-District, selected to the All-State Team and was awarded St. Tammany Parish Pitcher of the Year honors.

Stutes and Irvin are teammates on Lafayette-based St. Thomas More High School's softball squad having led the Cougars to four playoff appearances and a state championship in 2023.

A first team all-district and all-state performer each of the past two seasons, Stutes has produced a .400-plus yearly average since she was a freshman and has shown power-hitting ability with a combined 18 home runs over her sophomore and junior seasons. She'll be joining her sister, Gabbie Stutes, on the Ragin' Cajuns roster.

Irvin has played catcher and corner infield for STM, receiving all-district, all-metro and all-state honors in addition to D1 select state tournament MVP during the Cougars' 2023 state title run. She heads into her senior season as a career .475 hitter with 31 home runs and 120 RBI to her credit.

Johnson is in heading toward her fourth season at catcher for Independence (N.C.) High School in the Charlotte, North Carolina region. The team's Offensive Player of the Year three years running, she claimed all-conference honors as a freshman and sophomore and then elevated to all-state honors as a junior in 2024.

Coming off back-to-back .400-plus seasons, Johnson has produced 28 doubles, five triples, 18 home runs and 73 RBI over 220 career at bats with Independence HS.

Watts has handled catching duties and played shortstop for Loranger (La.) High School. She's earned First Team All-District honors the past three seasons, was named First Team All-Parish in 2024 on Tanhipahoa's first-ever team named and was a USA 2023 National Selection Top Performer 16u.

Her batting average rising each season, Watts elevated to a .637 mark in her junior season totaling 44 hits with over half going for extra bases (17 doubles, five triples, three homers), scored 52 runs and posted 27 RBI. She stole 20-plus bases for the third straight year ending a perfect 35-for-35.

Louisiana Athletics
RaginCajuns.com
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[Looney Lou]

If I am not mistaken, it took Gerry Glasco from 2018 to 2021, a good 3 years to get his own recruiting class on the field. That class had Laney Credeur, Kayla Falterman, Maddie Hayden and seven others. This, 2025 will be their fourth year. Gerry got some of his "chosen" but, not the entire class until the 2021 Class. How long will it take Alyson Habetz to get her entire class in. This class, the 2025 class is Gerry's class. I imagine he had been recruiting players to be Cajuns for '26, '27 and maybe even '28. Because he is still coaching, he will be recruiting them to Texas Tech. I think it was a different "ball game" with recruiting because Mike Lotief was no longer coaching and had no team to lure his recruited players to. Mallie West was heavily recruited by Gerry Glasco for the 2025 Class. She signed with Texas Tech on Wednesday. Earlier, she had "decommitted" to the Cajuns and committed to Texas Tech when Gerry left here. The six girls that signed with us could have done the same thing. We already have one 2026 player committed, McKayla Hranicky from Port Neches, Texas, for the class of 2026. She committed to Alyson Habetz.

[Cajunchuck]

Looking forward to seeing how this class pans out. Hopefully it will be a building stone for what turns out to be a long, highly successful tenure for Habetz as head coach

[JMV JustMyView]

If I am not mistaken, it took Gerry Glasco from 2018 to 2021, a good 3 years to get his own recruiting class on the field. That class had Laney Credeur, Kayla Falterman, Maddie Hayden and seven others. This, 2025 will be their fourth year. Gerry got some of his "chosen" but, not the entire class until the 2021 Class. How long will it take Alyson Habetz to get her entire class in. This class, the 2025 class is Gerry's class. I imagine he had been recruiting players to be Cajuns for '26, '27 and maybe even '28. Because he is still coaching, he will be recruiting them to Texas Tech. I think it was a different "ball game" with recruiting because Mike Lotief was no longer coaching and had no team to lure his recruited players to. Mallie West was heavily recruited by Gerry Glasco for the 2025 Class. She signed with Texas Tech on Wednesday. Earlier, she had "decommitted" to the Cajuns and committed to Texas Tech when Gerry left here. The six girls that signed with us could have done the same thing. We already have one 2026 player committed, McKayla Hranicky from Port Neches, Texas, for the class of 2026. She committed to Alyson Habetz.

He wasn't recruiting kids from 2027 or 2028.