BATON ROUGE — While being named one of five Easton Sports Schools of the Year, the third-ranked LSU softball team placed five players on the 2004 All-America teams, as selected by Easton Sports on Wednesday.
As a program, LSU joined fellow 2004 Women’s College World Series participants UCLA, California and Florida State along with Sacramento Community College in being named the 2004 Eason Sports Schools of the Year. The honor is the first for the Tigers in the eight-year history of the program.
Seniors Kristin Schmidt and LaDonia Hughes were selected to the first team, junior Leigh Ann Danos and freshman Leslie Klein were named to the second team and sophomore Lauren Castle was chosen for the third team.
The selection is the second Easton All-American honor of Schmidt’s career, after being named to the second team a year ago. The three-time NFCA All-American became the first player in Women’s College World Series history to be named the Most Outstanding Player of the tournament not from the national championship team, leading the Tigers to a third-place finish.
In addition, she was named the NCAA Region 3 Tournament and SEC Tournament Most Valuable Player. The pitcher from Houston became the 24th player in NCAA history to record 1,000 career strikeouts and the 35th player in NCAA history to record 100 career victories. She is one of just 14 players to have reached both milestones.
Earning the first Easton honor of her career Hughes was also named to the NFCA All-America, All-South Region and All-SEC first teams. The Farmville, Va., outfielder ranked in the top 10 in the SEC in batting average, runs scored, hits, triples and stolen bases.
This season, the Louisiana Hitter of the Year ranked fifth in single-season stolen bases in LSU history, ranked third in hits and broke the school record for at bats in a season. The Tiger record holder for consecutive games played without an error, Hughes led the team with 26 multiple-hit games, third-most in LSU history.
Klein was named to the second team after earning third team NFCA All-American honors this season. The outfielder from Sunrise, Fla., was also a second-team All-South Region, first-team All-SEC and All-SEC Freshman team selection. In addition, she was a member of the SEC and NCAA Region 3 All-Tournament teams.
Klein ranked in the top 50 in the NCAA in slugging percentage, RBIs per game and runs per game this season and broke the LSU single-season home run and total base records. In addition, she tied the school record with a 15-game hitting streak and tied the SEC single-game record with seven RBIs against Alcorn State.
A catcher from Lafayette, Danos earned her first Easton All-America honor after being named to the All-SEC and All-Louisiana second teams. She led the team and recorded the fifth highest on base percentage in LSU history this season, while also walking a team-best 31 times.
In postseason play, Danos stepped up her defensive performance behind the plate. She picked off three runners, including two against Alabama in the SEC Tournament, and caught five of the 14 runners trying to steal on her. In addition, she did not allow a passed ball and had just one wild pitch get away from her in the final 13 games.
In her first season at LSU, Castle earned her first Easton All-America honor. The designated player from Lafayette also earned first-team All-South Region and All-Louisiana honors and was named to the All-SEC second team. In addition, she was named to the NCAA Region 3 All-Tournament team.
Castle led the Tigers in batting average this season and currently ranked eighth in single-season batting average in LSU history. In addition, she ranked seventh in single-season hits in LSU history and recorded 24 multiple-hit games, which tied her for fifth most single-season history.
The Tigers led all schools with five selections to the All-America teams, followed by California with four. UCLA, Florida State, Fresno State and Sacramento Community College each had three honorees. In all, forty-five players were named to the 2004 East All-America first, second and third teams from NCAA Division I, II and III schools, NAIA schools and junior colleges.
Easton 2003 All-American Teams and Awards
First Team
Name Position School
Keira Goerl P UCLA
Jessica Van Der Linden P Florida State
Kristina Thorson P California
Jenn Poore C Oregon
Kerry Farrell C Colorado State
Kim Wendland 1B Georgia
Caitlyn Benyi 2B UCLA
Vicky Galindo 3B Cal
Christina Clark SS Fresno State
Nicole Barber OF Georgia
Kaleo Eldredge OF California
LaDonia Hughes OF LSU
Kristin Schmidt At-Large LSU
Casey Hunter At-Large Florida State
Jamie Southern At-Large Fresno State
Second Team
Name Position School
Nikki Clinque P Sacramento CC
Lindsey Klabacha P Cypress JC
Tammy Nielsen P Creighton
Leigh Ann Danos C LSU
Paige Paramore C BYU
Vanessa Iapala 1B Oregon State
Veronica Wootson 2B Florida State
Andrea Duran 3B UCLA
Nicole Moojen SS Cypress College
Christina Bedwell OF CS Northridge
Leslie Klein OF LSU
Rachel Wilson OF West Valley College
Jackie McClain At-Large Alabama
Chelsea Spencer At-Large California
Amber Jackson At-Large Bethune Cookman
Third Team
Name Position School
Sonja Garnett P San Francisco State
Ani Nyhus P Oregon
Kelli Arnold P Massachusetts
Nicole Willis C Fresno State
Andrea Thomas C Bethune-Cookman
Randi Gillespie 1B West Valley College
Traci Bender 2B Sacramento CC
Melissa Sanchez 3B UC Riverside
Stacey Rybar OF Creighton
Lauren Castle OF LSU
Auriel Jenkins OF Southern Miss
Wendi Salgo At-Large Sacramento CC
Emily Kruger At-Large Illinois State
Stephanie Ramos At-Large UCLA