Speaker 1: Softball finally sees some motion coming out of the transfer portal.
Let's discuss it here on Raging Rundown. What's good, ladies
and gentlemen, and welcome to another episode of Raging Rundown,
the show where you will know all things U O Sports.
I'm your guy, Ja Marcus Fitzpatrick, but you know you
can always call me fits. And in today's episode, we
will be talking about Louisiana Softball finally seeing a portal
commit to their team. We'll also discuss some of the
players that will be leaving the program after transferring out.
And also we will give you the latest update on
the twenty twenty seven football class as the class.
Speaker 2: Is continuing to take shape.
Speaker 1: So let's start off with the latest from the transfer
portal as Louisiana Softball gets their first commit in South
Carolina transfer pitcher KG.
Speaker 2: Favors a little bit of a bio about her.
Speaker 1: She initially committed to South Carolina back in twenty twenty two,
but then a coaching change happened. She decided to stay
with the team. Despite the coaching change happening, she stayed there.
Things didn't work out for her necessarily in her favor,
so After that one season of being in South Carolina,
she transferred and she enters the transfer portal and now
lands at Louisiana, but in high school in her three
year in her high school career in Alabama, she's an
Orange Beach Alabama native. Favors helped her team to win
three state titles, and as a senior, she was twenty
two and one in the circle with fifteen shutouts and
a point seven to seven ERI with one hundred and
ninety seven strikeouts. According to the Perfect Game, she was the
eighteenth rank overall prospect in the entire twenty twenty five
signing class. So she was an elite peach pitcher coming
out of high school and now you have added that
to your bullpen. In the one season that she had
at South Carolina, she made thirteen appearances in the circle.
She had three starts for the game Cocks. In the
twenty twenty six campaign, she logged six scoreless appearances of
softball pitched, including three sec outings or including some sec
outings against Texas and Missouri. She will according to the
article from Kevin Foot at The Advocate, she will pitch
and hit during fallball, so we will potentially get a
chance to see someone you know play in the circle
and then come in and pinch hit or be a
designated hitter. It just all depends on how hot her
bad is and how she's able to work her way
into the lineup. Based on what I have been told,
ideally they are not done obviously because they have more
roster spots to feel, but ideally they would like another pitcher,
a catcher for depth, and a third baseman you add
into the roster as well. So that's a little bit
about what you're bringing in, and I think adding this
type of picture.
Speaker 2: You know, her era was like a four point one.
Speaker 1: Two, and I know a lot of people said, like
is that good? You know, in comparison, I think she
had fifteen strikeouts to fifteen walks, And you know what
I will say is like that is just a small
bit of work, Like you can't really judge a book
by it's not full body of work, so to speak. Right,
you know, you had Bailey Mackles also on your roster,
and I think her.
Speaker 2: Era was a little over five, So you.
Speaker 1: Can't fully judge a picture off of just those small
outings that she had. Now as she comes in and
she's gonna work under pitching coach Kyle Brady. We saw
how he was able to continue to pull great things
out of Sage Hoover, and now if he's able to
work with KG Favors and the company around them, there's
no telling what she can develop into. So you bring
in a player that has three years of eligibility remaining,
you have an opportunity to continue to develop her and
the sky is only the limit based on what you're
able to do with her. So you get your first
transfer portal commit and that is truly something that's going
to be exciting now as it stands. With your roster,
she is a part of a very young bullpen. Like
I mentioned, Sage Hoover is the oldest, being a senior
or even a graduate. I think a graduate student if
I'm not mistaken. After that, your next most experienced picture
is Bailey Mackles and she only had six outings last season.
Speaker 2: So KG Favors is going to come in.
Speaker 1: She's still going to be extremely young, but she's going
to give you an opportunity to potentially develop into something,
whether that is, you know, a midweek starter, or she
becomes a part of your weekend rotation. It all depends
on the rest of the players that you add in
the mix. We'll talk about the full roster in just
a bit, but I do want to get into the
departures that have now left the program as it stands
or as it will be. There are five players that
are no longer the Raging Cajun Softball program. That is
Lilyan Soto, Julianne Tipton, Mickey Watts, Natalie Johnson, and as
of Monday, the final date of the transfer portal was
opened and officially closed. Gabby Stuts, the former STM product,
has entered the transfer portal as well, So you're losing
five young ladies. Lilyan Soto never really cracked the lineup
as much as what many would have wanted to see.
She had some sparking moments where you know, she had
some home runs and big swings throughout the season, but
it just never materialized fully, so she will leave the program.
Julianne Tipton had moments where she started for you, but
ultimately could not fully build a level of consistency to
remain in a good spot for the team. Mickey Watts
and Natalie Johnson never really received playing time as they
were true freshmen coming in, so they're gonna move on
and try to go and find a home to be
able to play. And then Gabby Stuts is another player.
She only appeared in twenty four games this past season
and I want to say around forty ish in her
total career in the three seasons that she was here
in Lafey Hat, one of them being a red shirt
freshman season. So things never really materialized for any of
these players that are listed with wishing them all the
best is they go and try to ultimately find a
place that they can land where they can play and
flourish in their softball careers. So those are the five
players that are no longer with the program. As it stands,
what you have is nineteen total players. You can have
up to twenty five total players on your roster, so
you have six more roster spots available. From a pitching perspective,
Sage Hoover Bailey MCOs KG favors Mikayla Ranicky who's a freshman,
Emily Adams who is a freshman. Mikayla Ranicky is a
utility player, but she was extremely talented coming out of
high school as a pitcher. So I am assuming that
she will be in the pitching position. I will ask
about that to confirm, but that is what I believe
will be in your bullpen. So right now that it's
five pictures. If you add another, that will make it six.
Your infielders Meil Ascino, Brooke, Otto, Madison Manny Hailey Hart,
Emily Smith, Ali Rios who is a freshman, Tour Gonzalez
who is a freshman, So that is two for six.
Seven infielders. In the outfield, Dajah Williams, who I believe
will be a senior, Me and Norwood, Lily Knox, Kennedy
Stuts are all returning, so that it's four outfielders returning.
Hailey Johnson, who is a freshman, makes it five. You
have two catchers, Kennedy marsl who's returning for you, and
then Zoe Harrington, the North Vermillion product, who.
Speaker 2: Is a freshman. So you've got two catchers.
Speaker 1: Like I said, they are looking to add a catcher,
a third baseman, and a pitcher. With six roster spots,
there's no telling if they can fill all six of
them or what they may try to do as they
continue to work to fill out this roster. So like
coach Habits talked about after their loss in the Sun
Belt Conference tournament. They are going to be building around
Kennedy morrisol ricc Otto, Hailey Hart. Those are your core
three of what you have, and then I also believe
she mentioned me and Lescano as well. Those are the
core of what this team is gonna be able to be.
Those are your all sun Bealt selections. Hailey Hart was
a Freshman of the Year. The year before that, Emily
Smith was the Sunbelt Freshman of the Year. So you
have two great players that you are returning once again.
Hailey Hart will be one more year experience as a sophomore,
Emily Smith will be a junior. So you look at
all of those pieces that you're trying to build around,
and you bring in this class a freshman that you have.
Now it's going to be important to have some slam dunks.
In terms of the transfer portal, last year it was
Madison Manning, Julianne Tipton, Kennedy Morris.
Speaker 2: Right, you're returning two of those transfers.
Speaker 1: Madison Manning was very solid for you in the moments
that she got in at first base, and then Kennedy
Morris was phenomenal as a catcher being an All Sun
Belt member. So now you're gonna have to once again
cash in and land big in the transfer portal. The
portal is officially closed. Some of the more elite players
have already signed to their destination. So I'm sure that
the staff is in the middle of this rat race
trying to find comparable players that cannot just come in,
but they can come in and help them win right away,
because that is the expectation. That is what they are
trying to do, which is win right away. The foundation
that they have laid, which is the players that I
have listed, like I mentioned Alee Hart, Brocado, Kennedy Marsau,
Mila Scano, those players being the foundation.
Speaker 2: Are going to be important.
Speaker 1: And not to mention Sage Hoover being your ace in
the circle, those foundational players are going to be important
towards the success of this team. If you're able to
build around that, then the sky's the limit and things
could turn around for the Raging Cajun softball program going
into twenty twenty seven. So that is how things are
shaping up for the softball program. But things are also
coming to get the really really well for the Raging
Cajun's football program. They added a pair of commits to
the twenty twenty seven class. We'll talk about who those
young men are when we come back here on Raging Rundown. Hey, guys,
thank you so much for tuning into another episode of
Raging Rundown. We're going to get back into the action
in just a second, but before we do, please do
me a favor. If you're watching this on YouTube, please
like the video, share it, and leave a comment down below,
But most importantly, make sure you subscribe to the channel.
If you're listening, please follow the podcast feed, rate the show,
and leave us a review, because that's going to help
us get in front of more Raging Cajun fans just
like yourself. So before we went to break, we talked
about how softball has added their first portal commit, and
now we're shifting gears and talking about football as the
twenty twenty seven recruiting class continues to come to fruition.
Speaker 2: The class is.
Speaker 1: Now up to twelve total players. We'll talk about the
full list than just the second but the two latest
commits that the program added is Wiley athlete Jeebrin Blake.
Wiley is in Texas and then the other is offensive
lineman A Darius Hines who comes from Eastview in Texas
as well. Both of those players were on official visits
this past weekend. Both of them are choosing UL over
the likes of Texas State. Blake chose Louisiana over Texas State,
that was one of his other main offers. Meanwhile, Hines
chose the Cajuns over Texas State and North Texas. So
that is big you win once again a head to
head recruiting battle. Obviously, Texas State is no longer in
the Sun Belt, but that's one more good kick to say, hey,
we got a guy over you. You always want to
be able to do those in recruiting battles, so kudos
to the Cages for being able to do that. A
little bit about both players. Jaebriron Blake is five for eleven.
He's one hundred and eighty pounds. He currently plays quarterback
at Wiley, but the Cajuns are recruiting him at defensive back.
And I know, you know, I saw someone on social saying,
you know, how is this guy that'll be playing dB
when you know he's such an elite quarterback?
Speaker 2: And I hear you on that, But right now.
Speaker 1: You have Lunch Winfield on the roster, you have Daniel
Build on the roster, you have Coleman Carter on the roster,
and you have Sam Altman.
Speaker 2: On the roster.
Speaker 1: So you have four quarterbacks. You're assuming that Lunch will
come back for his senior campaign, meaning that you'll have
two more seasons of Lunch counting this season and the
next season, so you'll have him and all four of
those other quarterbacks, assuming that none of them leave. You're
also signing Tam Anderson, who's already in this class as well,
so you're talking about five quarterbacks. Adding a sixth quarterback
doesn't really add as much value, especially with three other
guys outside of Lunch being well integrated into the program
and understanding what it's going to take to run the
offense already, so it doesn't make a ton of sense
to keep him at the quarterback position. Moving him to
dB is a completely different story because you can move
him in different spots. You can use them as a corner,
you can use him at the star position. He has
elite speed. According to his Twitter account, he was clocked
at a four three five in the forty. You cannot
teach that you cannot coach that. That is God given ability.
So to have that, I think having that on the
defensive side of the ball is a little bit more
of an explosive skill set that you can have. You know,
you think about a player like a Brent Gordon Junior,
who at Cecilia was a two way player. He played
on the offensive side and he played on the defensive side.
And I know we saw players like him, like Travis
Hunter and so many others play on both sides of
the ball, and we want to see that happening, or
we want to see someone lean more towards offense because
that is what sells tickets. But if you can take
a skill set like that and put it on defense,
you can always tell him, hey, we're going to create
a package for you where we're going to toss you
a speed sweep, or we're gonna give you a bubble screen,
or we're gonna you know, line up, ye up and
give it to you on the jet suite. You can
figure out how to utilize him in your offense. But
I think he's going to be better suited on the
defensive side of the ball because of the type of
skill that he has, which is elite speed, So that
is a little bit about him. And then on the
offensive line. Adarius Hines is six foot six, three hundred
and twenty five pounds. According to his Twitter account, he
received the offer while being on the official visit with
the Cajuns, so that is a quick target. They go
ahead and they are able to get him in the building.
They show him love and he instantly commits. An instant
commit is kind of one of the best ones that
you can possibly have, because that means that your first
impression was the best impression. When you're able to garner
that relationship so well that on the first meeting or
the initial meeting, which is the official visit, it is hey,
I want to be here like I'm here.
Speaker 2: I like it here.
Speaker 1: I've been to other places. I'm going to go ahead
and lockdown and be here. So you're adding a fellow
trench warrior to the mix. On his Twitter account, he
says that he is a three star. I could not
find a star rating according to any other publications, but
he is from what I've seen on tape, a mauler.
He's very elite in the trenches, and so that adds
to the mix. Also with this recruiting class. So as
it stands, you currently have twelve total commits to the
twenty twenty seventh class, and it is as follows. The
first commit from this class was tight end Bryce Coleman
from Shadow Creek. The next was Kobe Smith, the defensive
lineman from the Oyals. After that, it's Rob Taylor, the
wide receiver from Faraday, Tam Anderson, the quarterback from Westbrook,
Noah Ernest, another offensive lineman from Angleton, John Walker, the
wide receiver from Blackmouth, Mason Smith, the defensive lineman from
the University lab Landon Ordy the safety from STM. Caleb White,
the DV from Summer Creek, Gavin Cooper Junior, the DV
from Archbishop Archbishop Rummel Jee Bryn Blake, and R Darius
Darius Hines. So you have two offensive linemen, you have
multiple dbs. So Jabriyron is going to be considered one.
Speaker 2: So that's one.
Speaker 1: Jack Gavin Cooper is two, Caleb White is three, Landen
Ordy is a safety. That's a dB considered four to
your four DB's two wide receivers, a defensive lineman, a quarterback,
and a tight end. So you're just about kind of
getting all over as you want to be Oh, and
not to mention I forget to say that Landon Ordy
will be moving to linebackers, so even though he is
a safety, he is considered a linebacker. So you've got
a good mixture of every position, just about cover. We
know that the Cajun's build through the high school ranks,
so this is probably about maybe a quarter or almost
a half waypoint of where they want this class to be.
I'm assuming that they'll probably make a strong push to
try to go and get at least another eighteen players,
and however many more that they're able to build up,
because obviously the more the merrier, you know, especially in
this transfer portal era, you never know what can happen.
In the previous seasons, the Kagens have not lost a
ton of players due to the portal because of the
type of culture that they have, and I've said this
multiple times, like the wins may not be materializing in
a lot of ways, but when you're able to keep
the bulk of your roster, that goes to show that
these guys are willing to fight and claw and scrap
for the coaching staff and for each other. Because of
the culture that they have built within that building. So
if you can continue to build that through the high
school ranks, you're naturally going to lose some players. But ultimately,
as you keep building and you build around the foundational
pieces that you have, we talked about them before. You
have Lunch Winfield their quarterback. You have Brick Gordon Junior
on the defensive side of the ball. You have defensive
linemen like Fitzgerald West. You have some great running backs
coming out that have not had as much playing time,
but what we saw during the spring and the episodes
that we've talked about that you can check out, they
will be a huge piece to the success of this offense.
Sheldon Sampson at receiver. You have foundational pieces that you
are gonna be able to build around. Now the thing
is is being able to convert it into wins. That's
all what is going to blow down to. But that's
how your twenty twenty seven class is shaping up as
of now, and that's only gonna build up more excitement
as we push towards the fall.
Speaker 2: When the Cajuns open the season on September.
Speaker 1: Fifth against Lamar, that's gonna wrap up this episode of
raging and rundown. If you've made it to this point
of the episode, thank you so much. If you're watching
on YouTube, please do me a favor. Please like this video,
share it, and leave a comment down below, but most importantly,
make sure you subscribe to the channel. If you're listening,
please follow the podcast feed, rate the show, and leave
us a review, because that's gonna help us get in
front of more raging Cajun fans. Just like yourself. I'm
your guy, Ja Marcus Fitzpatrick. We'll see you guys next time.
Speaker 2: Yah.