June 3, 2009
RUSTON - Louisiana Tech junior Amberly Waits received yet another honor Wednesday when she was named the Louisiana Sports Writers Association State Hitter of the Year.
A Louisiana Sports Writers Association panel selected the All-Louisiana team based on nominations by the softball-playing four-year colleges and universities in the state. Voting was based on statistics and performances through the teams' conference tournaments.
Waits was the lone member from Louisiana Tech on the all-state first team while teammates Kylie Bassett and Meghan Krieg earned second team accolades. Senior outfielders Emma Barnes and Danielle Sheridan both earned honorable mention all-state honors.
Waits, who was the first LA Tech player to ever earn the Western Athletic Conference Player of the Year award when she received that accolade last month, was the first player from a school other than LSU or UL-Lafayette to earn the state specialty award in the last seven years.
Originally, the state only awarded a State Player of the Year award (which included both hitters and pitchers) until 2003 when the decision was made to have two separate awards - Hitter of the Year and Pitcher of the Year.
Waits was the first player not from LSU or ULL to capture either one of those two awards or the old Player of the Year award since 1997, when ironically enough, current LA Tech head coach Sarah Dawson was named the state Player of the Year during her senior season at UL-Monroe.
Waits, an All-West Region selection, set Tech season records with her .488 batting average, 81 hits, 17 home runs, 62 RBIs, 155 total bases and .934 slugging percentage. She was the WAC Player of the Year after raising her batting average by more than 100 points and her fielding percentage by more than 50 points from 2008, when she was first-team All-Louisiana.
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It was the second straight year that Waits set Tech season records for hits, total bases and batting average.
The Ragin Cajuns and Tigers are still prominent on this year's team as they combined for eight of the 11 first-team selections, with UL Lafayette collecting six, including Pitcher of the Year Donna Bourgeois and utility player Christi Orgeron, the Freshman of the Year. LSU outfielder Kirsten Shortridge was unanimously selected Newcomer of the Year.
The second team includes three players each from Louisiana College and two apiece from LA Tech and Southern.
Bassett, who was named first team all-WAC, earned second team all-state honors after batting .283 with 13 home runs and 37 RBI while Krieg, who was named second team all-conference as well, earned her spot on the all-state team after recording a 20-7 mark with a 1.85 ERA.
Louisiana College head coach Tim Whitman was voted the state Coach of the Year although Dawson and McNeese State's Natalie Poole each received votes.
2009 ALL-LOUISIANA COLLEGIATE SOFTBALL TEAM
First Team
Position Name School Pitcher Donna Bourgeois Louisiana-Lafayette
Pitcher Cody Trahan LSU
Catcher Lana Bowers Louisiana-Lafayette
First Base Gabriele Bridges Louisiana-Lafayette
Second Base Danielle Clayton Nicholls State
Third Base Melissa Verde Louisiana-Lafayette
Shortstop Amberly Waits Louisiana Tech
Outfield Karli Hubbard Louisiana-Lafayette
Outfield Brianna Love Louisiana-Monroe
Outfield Kirsten Shortridge LSU
Utility Christi Orgeron Louisiana-Lafayette
Designated Player no nominees
Hitter of the Year: Amberly Waits, Louisiana Tech
Pitcher of the Year: Donna Bourgeois, Louisiana-Lafayette
Newcomer of the Year: Kirsten Shortridge, LSU
Freshman of the Year: Christi Orgeron, Louisiana-Lafayette
Coach of the Year: Tim Whitman, Louisiana College
Second Team
Position Name School
Pitcher Meghan Krieg Louisiana Tech
Pitcher René Schwartzenburg Louisiana College
Catcher Aruba Nicholas Southern
First Base Kylie Bassett Louisiana Tech
Second Base Chastoni Jones Southern
Third Base Heather Sherrill Southeastern Louisiana
Shortstop Sloane Laiche LSU-Alexandria
Outfield Caitlin Bankston Louisiana College
Outfield Rachel Mitchell LSU
Outfield Lindsey Smith Centenary
Utility McCaslin Carson Louisiana College
Honorable Mention Pitcher: Ashley Brignac, Louisiana-Lafayette; Lacey Gros, Nicholls State; Hillary Phillips, Centenary; Bethany Stefinsky, McNeese State.
Catcher: Haley Bassett, Centenary.
First Base: Anissa Young, LSU.
Third Base: Jessica Mouse, LSU.
Shortstop: Audrey Phillips, Southern; Codi Runyan, Louisiana-Lafayette; Juliana Santos, LSU.
Outfield: Emma Barnes, Louisiana Tech; Vallie Gaspard, Louisiana-Lafayette; Lindsey Langner, McNeese State; Danielle Sheridan, Louisiana Tech; Katie Smith, Louisiana Tech; Victoria Stewart, Southern.
Utility: Ashley Applegate, LSU; Audrey Wood, Nicholls State.
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