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2012 ALL-LOUISIANA COLLEGIATE SOFTBALL TEAM For release in morning newspapers (newsprint editions only — NOT WEBSITES) of Sunday, June 3; available to all other media, including newspaper websites, after 11 p.m. CDT on Saturday, June 2 All-time list of All-Louisiana softball special awards (PDF file) By Ed Cassiere Sports Information Director, Xavier University (written for the Louisiana Sports Writers Association) Led by record-setting outfielder Christi Orgeron, Louisiana-Lafayette continues its preeminence on the All-Louisiana collegiate softball team. Orgeron — the NCAA Division I leader in RBIs per game for the second straight season and the Ragin' Cajuns' all-time leader in RBIs — is a repeat winner of the state's Hitter of the Year award. UL Lafayette leads the state in first-team selections for the fifth consecutive year. The Ragin' Cajuns have seven, including pitcher Jordan Wallace, the Freshman of the Year, and first baseman Hatte Maack, who shared Newcomer of the Year with Louisiana Tech utility player Melanie Goff. Wallace, Maack and Goff are first-team selections. The Ragin' Cajuns' Stefni and Michael Lotief are the Coaches of the Year. LSU junior right-hander Rachele Fico, the Division I ERA leader, was chosen Pitcher of the Year. A 14-member Louisiana Sports Writers Association panel of media and sports publicists selected the All-Louisiana team, based on statistics and performances through the teams' conference tournaments. Orgeron, a senior from New Orleans, hit .376 with 21 home runs and 91 RBIs. She was first-team All-Louisiana for the third time — she was second team in 2010 — and finished her career with a .349 average, 70 homers and 288 RBIs in 237 games. She was Louisiana's Freshman of the Year in 2009. Wallace, a right-hander, was 25-1 with a 2.08 ERA and set an NCAA freshman record by winning her first 23 decisions. She beat then-fifth-ranked Arizona State 9-2 on March 15 and beat Louisiana Tech 9-0 on Feb. 19 in the 80th no-hitter in Ragin' Cajuns history. Haack, a transfer from Arizona, hit .341 — nearly 200 points higher than she did her first two collegiate seasons — with seven homers and 47 RBIs. She homered in three consecutive March games. Goff, a transfer from two-year Grossmont College, hit .409 with 22 RBIs and set a school and WAC Tournament record by scoring five times in a 17-7 victory against Fresno State. Goff is the second Tech player to record a .400 batting average, a .500 on-base percentage and a .600 slugging percentage in the same season. Fico outpolled UL Lafayette's Ashley Brignac, the 2011 and 2008 Pitcher of the Year, 8-6 to win the award. Fico was 16-11 — including a road victory at then-No. 2 Alabama — with an ERA of 0.98, 11 shutouts and 192 strikeouts in 192.1 innings. LSU scored a combined seven runs in her 11 losses. The Lotiefs — married to each other and, since 2003, co-coaches at UL Lafayette — led the Ragin' Cajuns to their 11th Sun Belt Conference regular-season championship in 12 years and fifth in a row. The Cajuns set a program record by winning their first 28 games, and they lead Division I in runs per game for the second consecutive season. UL Lafayette's other first-team selections are catcher Sarah Draheim, second baseman Paige Cormier, shortstop Nerissa Myers and outfielder Katie Smith. Myers leads Division I in runs per game for the second consecutive season and, like Cormier, is first-team All-Louisiana for the second straight year. The other first-teamers are Nicholls State's Ashley Ray at third base, LSU's Ashley Langoni in the outfield and McNeese State's Claire Terracina in the outfield and Ashley Modzelewski at designated player. Langoni and Tarracina tied for the third outfield position. Ray is a repeat first-team selection. Three from UL Lafayette — Brignac, Natalie Fernandez at third base and Briana Cherry in the outfield — made the second team. The other second-teamers are LSU pitcher Brittany Mack, Northwestern State catcher Cassandra Barefield, Louisiana College shortstop Daniele Wilson, Louisiana Tech designated player Erin Kipp, McNeese State outfielder Alanna DiVittorio, Louisiana-Monroe's Janel Salanoa at first base and Nicholls State's Ashley Bertot at second base. Eight players received honorable mention.
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