BATON ROUGE – The LSU softball team had six players secure Louisiana Sports Writers Association [LSWA] accolades Sunday. Yvette Girouard, the 2011 SEC’s Co-Coach of the Year, added her 14th career honor as the state’s top coach, while Brittany Mack notched an All-Louisiana First-Team selection.
Four days after being named an NFCA Third-Team All-America pick, Mack became the program’s 56th LSWA’s First Team honoree since 1997. She racked up five LSWA Pitcher of the Week awards in 2011 en route to a 20-7 record, a paltry 1.74 ERA and 209 strikeouts. The Round Rock, Texas, native enters her senior season 74 Ks away from Cody Trahan for fifth place on the program’s all-time list.
LSU placed Simone Heyward, Tammy Wray and Anissa Young on the All-Louisiana Second Team. Heyward spent her first 34 games of the season with over a .300 batting average before finishing with a team-high .294 clip. She also scored a team-best 39 runs and her 23 stolen bases were sixth in the SEC. Wray tallied 41 hits to rank third on the team and registered 25 of her 33 RBIs after February 25. Defensively, her 127 assists paced the SEC. Young batted .272 and fueled LSU with 10 home runs to go along with 42 RBIs. She produced a team-high 13 multi-RBI efforts, and the Tigers won 23 of 24 games when Young garnered a RBI.
Ashley Langoni, Rachele Fico and Tiffany Shaw came away with LSWA Honorable Mention status. Langoni cranked out a team-high 48 hits on a .271 batting average and finished second on the squad with 38 RBIs. Fico finished the season on a strong note winning nine of her last 11 decisions and racked up 18 strikeouts, second-most in program history for a single game, during her lone NCAA Tournament appearance versus Syracuse. After entering 2011 with only three career hits, Shaw paced the Tigers with 10 multi-hit performances, while her 16 stolen bases were tied for 15th in the SEC.
LSU wrapped up the final season of Girouard’s legendary career with a 40-18 record en route to the program’s 13th NCAA Regional appearance. It marked the 13th time in 15 seasons that the Tigers finished with at least 40 victories since softball was reinstated in 1997.
2011 All-Louisiana First Team
Position, Name, School, Class, Hometown
P, Ashley Brignac, Louisiana-Lafayette, Jr., River Ridge, La.
P, Brittany Mack, LSU, Jr., Round Rock, Texas C, Amber Thomas, Louisiana College, Sr., Rosepine, La. .
1B, Gabriele Bridges, Louisiana-Lafayette, Sr., Lafitte, La.
2B, Paige Cormier, Louisiana-Lafayette, Jr., Carencro, La.
SS, Nerissa Myers, Louisiana-Lafayette, So., Petal, Miss.
3B, Ashley Ray, Nicholls State, Jr., Lafayette, La.
OF, Brianna Love, Louisiana-Monroe, Sr., Garland, Texas OF, Brittany Menard, Louisiana College, So., Baton Rouge, La.
OF, Christi Orgeron, Louisiana-Lafayette, Jr., New Orleans, La.
DP, Kylie Roos, Northwestern State, So., Celina, Texas UTL, Janna Frandrup, Louisiana Tech, So., Phoenix, Ariz.
2011 All-Louisiana Second Team
Position, Name, School, Class, Hometown
P, Kelee Grimes, Northwestern State, Jr., Pineville, La.
P, René Schwartzenburg, Louisiana College, Sr., Marksville, La.
C, Sarah Draheim, Louisiana-Lafayette, So., Flower Mound, Texas 1B, Anissa Young, LSU, Jr., Fontana, Calif.
2B, Cali Burke, Northwestern State, Fr., Mesquite, Texas 3B, Tammy Wray, LSU, Fr., Somers, N.Y.
SS, Shawntall Steamer Southern So. Freeport, Texas OF, Simone Heyward, LSU, Fr., Sacramento, Calif.
OF, Kelsey Nichols, Southeastern Louisiana, So., Alvin, Texas OF, Claire Terracina, McNeese State, Jr., Lake Charles, La.
DP, Emily Douglas, Louisiana College, Fr., St. Amant, La.
DP, Natalie Fernandez, Louisiana-Lafayette, Fr., Denham Springs, La.
UTL, Megan Gaspard, Nicholls State, Jr. Coteau, La.,
2011 All-Louisiana Honorable Mention
P: Rachele Fico, LSU; Meghan Krieg, Louisiana Tech; Kayla Shepherd, McNeese State.
C: Allie Geisler, Louisiana Tech.
1B: Mandy Granger, Nicholls State; Katie Shumaker, McNeese State; Kiah Williams, Southern.
2B: Katie Roux, McNeese State; Calla Willoughby, LSU-Alexandria.
SS: Katie Duhe, Southeastern Louisiana; Molly Guidry, McNeese State; Janel Salanoa, Louisiana-Monroe.
OF: Kayla Cole, Northwestern State; Alanna DiVittorio, McNeese State; Kendra Harmon, Louisiana Tech; Lindsey Langner, McNeese State; Ashley Langoni, LSU; Whitney Roan, Nicholls State; Katie Smith, Louisiana-Lafayette; Victoria Stewart, Southern.
UTL: Jessica Pocorello, LSU-Alexandria; Tiffany Shaw, LSU.
2011 Louisiana Specialty Awards
Hitter of the Year: Christi Orgeron, Louisiana-Lafayette Pitcher of the Year: Ashley Brignac, Louisiana-Lafayette Freshman of the Year: (tie) Alanna DiVittorio, McNeese State; Emily Douglas, Louisiana College
Coach of the Year: Yvette Girouard, LSU