Emily Smith: Sunbelt Freshman of the Year

[NewsCopy]

[NewsCopy]

Emily Smith was named the Sun Belt Conference Freshman of the Year and was one of four members of the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns Softball team listed on the 2025 All-Sun Belt Softball Team, the conference office announced on Tuesday (May 6, 2025).

Louisiana Athletics
RaginCajuns.com
PRESS RELEASE

[VObserver]

Congratulations to Emily. She is certainly very deserving of the honor.

[ragin50]

Congratulations to Emily. She is certainly very deserving of the honor.

Definitely. Considering the situation and what she had to work with, a case could be made for Alyson as Coach of the Year.

[BeauCajun]

Definitely. Considering the situation and what she had to work with, a case could be made for Alyson as Coach of the Year.

Totally agree but it went to the ULMost coach.

[lcitsh]

https://sunbeltsports.org/news/2025/5/6/...teams.aspx

Sun Belt Unveils 2025 Softball Postseason Awards & All-Conference Teams

NEW ORLEANS — Texas State junior first baseman Aiyana Coleman was named the 2025 Sun Belt Conference Softball Player of the Year and Newcomer of the Year to headline the league’s postseason awards and all-conference teams announced Tuesday afternoon. The awards were voted upon by the league’s 12 head coaches.

Coleman becomes just the third player in Sun Belt history to win awards for both Player and Newcomer of the Year in the same season along with Louisiana’s Ciara Bryan in 2021 and Becky McMurtry in 2002.

Coastal Carolina’s Nicolette Picone was named Sun Belt Pitcher of the Year, as Louisiana’s Emily Smith was tabbed Freshman of the Year and ULM’s Molly Fichtner was voted Coach of the Year.

Nine teams placed multiple players on the all-conference teams, as Coastal Carolina, ULM and Louisiana led the way with four apiece. App State, Georgia Southern, Texas State and Troy each had three players recognized, while Marshall and South Alabama had two, respectively.

The annual awards precede the 2025 Sun Belt Conference Softball Championship will take place May 7-10 at the Troy University Softball Complex in Troy, Ala. Visit the Sun Belt Softball Championship Central page for tournament coverage.

20716
Player of the Year: Aiyana Coleman, Texas State
Coleman led the Sun Belt in RBI (33), OPS (1.577), slugging (.966), walks (29) and OBP (.611) against conference opponents and ranked fourth in the league with a .429 batting average on the season despite being walked in nearly 25 percent of her plate appearances. The junior played a key part in the Bobcats’ quest to a Sun Belt regular season championship, as 10 of her 25 hits were home runs. Coleman recorded at least one or was walked in 22 of the team’s 24 conference games. The junior had seven outings with multiple RBI this season, including a five-RBI performance versus Coastal Carolina and a pair of four-RBI efforts against Troy and ULM, respectively. Coleman also did not commit a single error on the year as the team’s first baseman and was one of just four players in the Sun Belt to record at least 130 putouts.

20715
Pitcher of the Year: Nicolette Picone, Coastal Carolina
A four-time Sun Belt Pitcher of the Week honoree, Picone has posted a 2.42 ERA, 24 wins and 154 strikeouts while recording four shutouts and five saves in the circle. The senior ranks second nationally in wins, fourth in complete games (21), ninth in saves, fifth in games started (31), and fourth in innings pitched (208.0). The Bethpage, N.Y., native has recorded two wins over ranked opponents including No. 24 Kentucky, where she allowed just one run on five hits, and No. 9 South Carolina while surrendering three runs while striking out five. Picone’s four complete-game shutouts came against South Dakota, Texas State, Georgia Southern and Marshall and became the conference’s all-time leader in saves with 19 this season. She did not allow an earned run in 15 appearances this season including five-straight games during a 17.1-inning spell from Feb. 15-22. Picone led the Sun Belt in wins, saves and innings pitched while ranking second in strikeouts, third in ERA, and sixth in opposing batting average (.232).

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Newcomer of the Year: Aiyana Coleman, Texas State
Following two seasons at Texas A&M, Coleman racked up 51 hits and started all 51 games in which she appeared in her first year with the Bobcats. The junior’s 17 home runs and 55 RBI ranked third among all players in the Sun Belt while striking out just 13 times and leading the conference in walks (43), OPS (1.485) and slugging percentage (.908). She compiled two multi-homer games and recorded at least three RBI in 10 different ballgames.

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Freshman of the Year: Emily Smith, Louisiana
Smith is the 10th Ragin’ Cajuns player in the program’s history receive the Sun Belt’s Freshman of the Year honor. In conference play, she was the only true freshman who ranked among the top 10 in batting average, OPS, home runs and RBI. The Kountze, Texas native was Louisiana's team leader in average (.435), home runs (7) and RBI (24) against conference opponent while carrying a .400-plus batting average throughout league play. Smith recorded at least one RBI in 13 of her 21 appearances in Sun Belt contests and is on the verge of becoming the first true freshman to be Louisiana's sole leader in RBI since 2004. On the year, she’s hitting .360 with 12 home runs, 49 hits, 43 RBI and 26 runs scored while recording 12 multi-hit performances and 11 games with multiple RBI.

20712

Coach of the Year: Molly Fichtner, ULM
In her seventh season leading ULM, Fichtner is the first in the program’s history to be voted Sun Belt Coach of the Year by her peers. Picked seventh in the Sun Belt’s Preseason Coaches’ Poll, Fichtner led the Warhawks to their winningest season in over 25 years with a 34-21 overall record. She also led ULM to its best finish in the Sun Belt standings and its most conference wins with 14. The Warhawks led the league in many offensive categories, including the team’s .334 batting average. Owning a 22-3 record at home, Fichtner guided the team through series sweeps of Troy and Georgia Southern to sit atop the Sun Belt standings and play for a regular season title on the final weekend of the season. ULM has broken over 15 single-season records under Fichtner, including batting average, hits, runs, RBIs, doubles, total bases and slugging percentage.

2025 Sun Belt Conference Softball Postseason Awards

Player of the Year: Aiyana Coleman, Texas State (Jr., 1B – College Station, Texas)

Pitcher of the Year: Nicolette Picone, Coastal Carolina (Sr., LHP – Bethpage, N.Y.)

Newcomer of the Year: Aiyana Coleman, Texas State (Jr., 1B – College Station, Texas)

Freshman of the Year: Emily Smith, Louisiana (Fr., 1B – Kountze, Texas)

Coach of the Year: Molly Fichtner, ULM

All-Sun Belt First Team
P Madison Azua, Texas State (So., LHP – Round Rock, Texas)
P Maddie Johnson, Georgia Southern (Fr., RHP – Athens, Ga.)
P Nicolette Picone, Coastal Carolina (Sr., LHP – Bethpage, N.Y.)
C Megan Kelnar, Texas State (Jr., C – Kyle, Texas)
1B Aiyana Coleman, Texas State (Jr., 1B – College Station, Texas)
2B Morgan Brown, ULM (R-Fr., 2B – Katy, Texas)
2B Makayla McClain, App State (Jr., 2B – Liberty, N.C.)
3B Olivia Branstetter, South Alabama (So., 3B – Liberty, Mo.)
SS Grace Barrett, App State (So., SS – Milton, Ga.)
OF Meagan Brown, ULM (So., OF – Katy, Texas)
OF Hannah Christian, Southern Miss (Fr., OF – Hoover, Ala.)
OF Diamond Leslie, Marshall (Fr., OF – Alpharetta, Ga.)
OF Brooklin Lippert, ULM (So., OF – Loganville, Ga.)
OF Taylor McKinney, Troy (Sr., OF – Montgomery, Ala.)
DP Payton List, James Madison (R-So., DP – Beaver, Pa.)

All-Sun Belt Second Team
P Alana Barnard, Georgia Southern (Jr., RHP – Statesboro, Ga.)
P Alyssa Faircloth, Troy (So., LHP – Northport, Ala.)
P Sophie Moshos, App State (Jr., LHP – Brazil, Ind.)
C Maddy Jennings, Coastal Carolina (Sr., C – Belton, S.C.)
1B Georgia Hood, Coastal Carolina (Jr., 1B – Mount Gambier, Australia)
1B Emily Smith, Louisiana (Fr., 1B – Kountze, Texas)
1B Gabby Stagner, South Alabama (Sr., 1B – Mobile, Ala.)
2B Keirstin Roose, Coastal Carolina (Sr., 2B – Wolcottville, Ind.)
3B Sam Roe, Louisiana (Sr., 3B – Destin, Fla.)
SS Haleigh Adkins, Marshall (So., SS – Hamlin, W.Va.)
SS Delanie Thames, Georgia Southern (So., SS – Statesboro, Ga.)
OF Kayla Falterman, Louisiana (Sr., OF – The Woodlands, Texas)
OF Maddie Hayden, Louisiana (Sr., OF – West Monroe, La.)
OF McKinnon Howard, Troy (So., OF – Smiths Station, Ala.)
DP Layla Thompson, ULM (Sr., DP – Gonzales, La.)

[BeauCajun]

A lot of youth on that 1st team.

[UL_Cajuns]

I sure hope we can hang onto Emily, but in today’s world of College athletics wouldn’t be surprised if she leaves for money.

[RedBug58]

I sure hope we can hang onto Emily, but in today’s world of College athletics wouldn’t be surprised if she leaves for money.

Get Gordon probably already has checks ready.

[RaginScotsman]

That has to be a first. No Louisiana players on the first team.

[Turbine]

That has to be a first. No Louisiana players on the first team.

Chewing gum and duct tape.

[ragin50]

That has to be a first. No Louisiana players on the first team.

I thought Maddie would have been first team.