BATON ROUGE — The LSU softball team received a National Letter of Intent from Palm Harbor High School standout Dani Hofer, as announced by head coach Yvette Girouard on Friday.
After winning their fifth Southeastern Conference championship and advancing to the Women’s College World Series for the second time in four years last spring, Hofer is the first signee for the Tigers this fall.
A pitcher from Palm Harbor, Fla., she was named the St. Petersburg Times All-Suncoast Player of the Year last season. Leading Palm Harbor to the Class 5A state title, she posted a 22-2 record with a 0.13 earned run average, giving up only three earned runs and seven walks on the season. In addition, she recorded 381 strikeouts, averaging 18.6 strikeouts a game, with 16 shutouts.
“We are thrilled to add Dani and the Hofer family to our program,” said Girouard. “Dani should continue the rich tradition of very talented LSU softball pitches. Our staff feels like we landed a gem and expect her to have an immediate and tremendous impact on our program.”
At the plate, her numbers were equally as impressive, as the right-hander led the Hurricanes with a .419 batting average and was the Pinellas County leader in doubles with 11 and RBIs with 36.
Among her many other accolades, Hofer was the 2003 St. Petersburg Times All-County Player of the Year, and a first-team all-state, all-county and all-conference selection in 2003, after being named a second-team all-conference selection in 2002. Additionally, she was presented an AAU All-American award in 2001.
In the summer of 2003, she led her travel team, the Lady Bombers, to a Pony National Championship, pitching a one-hitter in the championship game. In addition, she won an AAU National Championship 2001, an NSA National Championship in 1999 and 2001, and an ISA National Championship in 1996 and 1998.
Also an outstanding student, the daughter of Ed and Diana Hofer is a member of the National Junior Honor Society while maintaining a 3.86 grade point average in the medical magnet program at Palm Harbor.