The Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns softball program has had a stranglehold on the Sun Belt Conference for quite some time. It’s safe to say that the reign of dominance will continue according to the Sun Belt Conference according to the polls that were released on Wednesday.
The Cajuns, a consensus top-10 team in the national preseason polls, received all 10 first-place votes and 100 to stand atop the coaches’ preseason poll. The Troy Trojans were right behind them with 85 points with UT Arlington (77 points) and Texas State (74 points) rounding out the top four.
Louisiana also had Alissa Dalton and Summer Ellyson named as the preseason player and pitcher of the year, respectively.
Dalton returns as one of the top shortstops in the nation and a leader for the Ragin’ Cajuns at the plate, on the base pads and in the field. She hit a career-best .400 last season and emerged as one of the nation’s top clutch hitters, delivering 24 of 43 RBI in two-out situations. Defensively, the Cypress, Texas, native sported a .960 fielding percentage and delivered 218 assists over 347 chances at shortstop.
Ellyson is back in the circle for a final season in Lafayette. The former Teurlings Rebel captured the second-most wins (39) and third-most strikeouts (354) in program history, leading Louisiana to one of the best seasons in school history. She ranked in the top 10 nationally in all major pitching categories and carried a sub-2.00 ERA for the entire season.
Below is the preseason poll, All-Sun Belt team, preseason player and pitcher of the year honors.
Preseason Coaches’ Poll
First-place votes in parentheses
1. Louisiana (10) – 100 points
2. Troy – 85
3. UTA – 77
4. Texas State – 74
5. Coastal Carolina – 56
6. Appalachian State – 47
7. Georgia Southern – 36
8. South Alabama – 31
9. ULM – 26
10. Georgia State – 18
Preseason All-Sun Belt Team
Summer Ellyson, Louisiana (Sr., P, Lafayette, La.)
Megan Kleist, Louisiana (Sr., P, Appleton, Wisc.)
Julie Rawls, Louisiana (Sr., C, Hallsville, Texas)
Reagan Wright, UTA (Sr., C, Mansfield, Texas)
Katie Webb, Troy (Sr., 1B, Salem, Ala.)
Kaitlyn Alderink, Louisiana (Sr., 2B, Keller, Texas)
Hailey Mackay, Texas State (Sr., 3B, Leander, Texas)
Alissa Dalton, Louisiana (Sr., SS, Cypress, Texas)
Jayden Mount, ULM (Sr., SS, Longview, Texas)
Whitney Walton, UTA (Sr., SS, Lake Jackson, Texas)
Tara Oltmann, Texas State (Jr., SS, Giddings, Texas)
Courtney Dean, Coastal Carolina (Jr., OF, Indian Trail, N.C.)
Mekhia Freeman, Georgia Southern (Sr., OF, Newnan, Ga.)
Sarah Hudek, Louisiana (Sr., OF, Sugar Land, Texas)
Raina O’Neal, Louisiana (Jr., OF, Richmond, Texas)
Bailey Curry, Louisiana (Jr., DP/1B, Frankfort, Ky.)
Preseason Player of the Year
Alissa Dalton, Louisiana (Sr., SS, Cypress, Texas)
Preseason Pitcher of the Year
Summer Ellyson, Louisiana (Sr., P, Lafayette, La.)