Softball: Four Cajuns named to All-Region first team

Staff Report, The Advertiser, May 14, 2015

 

UL catch Lexie Elkins was virtually unstoppable at the plate during Sun Belt Conference play and fittingly earned Most Valuable Player recognition. Leslie Westbrook/The AdvertiserThere may not be a hotter hitter in the country these days than UL catcher Lexie Elkins, who hit .532 with 11 homers and 27 RBIs in March. UL’s Lexie Elkins connects for a single in the third inning against Georgia Southern in an NCAA softball game Tuesday, March 17, 2015, at Lamson Park in Lafayette, La.(Photo: Leslie Westbrook, The Advertiser)

 

 

Four members of the 11th-ranked Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns softball team were named to the 2015 Division I All-Central Region Team First Team, the National Fastpitch Coaches Association announced Thursday.

Lexie Elkins, Haley Hayden, Shellie Landry and Jordan Wallace were the Ragin’ Cajuns’ representatives on the All-Central Region First Team. The entire group is now eligible for All-American accolades.

Louisiana’s four first team-selections were the second most in the Central Region, trailing only Oklahoma’s five picks. It’s the most first-team selections for the Cajuns since five in 2012.

The awards honor softball student-athletes from the Association’s 10 regions with first, second and third teams selected for each region. The all-region teams were voted on by NFCA member coaches from each respective region, and all the honorees now become eligible for selection to one of three 2015 NFCA Division I All-American teams.

The All-America teams will be announced at 4 p.m. May 27.

“With so many good players and good players in our region, this is the highest honor for our team and these players to be recognized,” Louisiana softball head coach Michael Lotief said.

Elkins, who repeated as Sun Belt Player of the Year last week, received first team all-region honors for the second straight year. A 2014 All-American, the Victoria, Texas, native is eligible for the honor once again.

Wallace returned to the All-Central Region team for the first time since 2012 when she was a first team choice. It’s the first career selections for Hayden and Landry.

Elkins presently leads the nation with 29 home runs boosted by seven games with multiple home runs. She enters the NCAA Tournament one home run shy of tying Danyele Gomez’s single-season school record 30 hit in 2006. One more homer would make Elkins one of eight players in Division I history with 30 or more homers in a season (Laura Espinoza of Arizona and Lauren Chamberlain of Oklahoma did it twice).

2015 NFCA Division I All-Central Region Team

First team

P – Paige Parker (Oklahoma)

P – Jordan Wallace (Louisiana)

C – Lexie Elkins (Louisiana)

1B – Lauren Chamberlain (Oklahoma)

2B – Haley Hayden (Louisiana)

3B – Kelsey Arnold (Oklahoma)

SS – Shelby Pendley (Oklahoma)

OF – Shellie Landry (Louisiana)

OF – Erin Miller (Oklahoma)

OF – Lindsey Stephens (Texas)

DP – Devon Thomey (Texas Tech)

Second team

P – Heather Stearns (Baylor)

P – Randi Rupp (Texas State)

C – Whitney Ellis (Oklahoma)

1B – Shelby Friudenberg (Baylor)

2B – Ari Hawkins (Baylor)

3B – Courtney Harris (Texas State)

SS – Ariel Ortiz (Texas State)

OF – Kady Self (Oklahoma)

OF – Lindsey Cargill (Baylor)

OF – Nicole Pendley (Oklahoma)

DP – Linsey Hays (Baylor)

Third team

P – Erica Wright (Texas)

P – Julana Shrum (Houston)

C – Erin Shireman (Texas)

1B – Kendall Wiley (Texas State)

2B – Lea Hopson (Texas Tech)

3B – Roni Patterson (IUPUI)

SS – Sammy Marshall (Western Illinois)

OF – Kaitlyn Thumann (Baylor)

OF – Kathryn Hollingsworth (Belmont)

OF – Stephanie Wong (Texas)

DP – Holly Kern (Texas)