2025 Season Preview: Centenary Softball
The Centenary softball team opens its 2025 season on Saturday at home as the Ladies will face the Millsaps College Majors in a non-conference doubleheader at the Centenary Softball Complex.
Game 2
Game 2
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Millsaps
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 3 |
|
Centenary (La.)
|
2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | X | 10 | 13 | 1 |
Game 1
Game 1
| Final (9) | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Millsaps
|
0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 10 | 3 |
|
Centenary (La.)
|
1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 0 |
Shreveport – The Centenary softball team opens its 2025 season on Saturday at home as the Ladies will face the Millsaps College Majors in a non-conference doubleheader at the Centenary Softball Complex.
Live stats and live video are available for both games at the links below:
Stats: https://www.gocentenary.com/sports/sball/2024-25/boxscores/20250208_1hlz.xml
Video: https://www.ktalnews.com/gocentenary/watch-live-centenary-college-sports-2024-2025/
Saturday's opener marks the 25th all-time meeting between the two programs, a series which Millsaps leads 18-6. The Majors and Ladies met five times last season with Millsaps winning four of the five games. Millsaps (0-2) opened its season last weekend against Blue Mountain Christian University and was swept in a DH.
SEASON OUTLOOK:
The Ladies were picked to finish seventh this season in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference preseason coaches' poll released last week.
Centenary finished 13-27 overall last season and 8-13 in SCAC play but finished the season on a 12-game losing streak which serves as motivation for this season as the Ladies and fourth-year head coach Whitney Patterson are eager to get back on the field. Included in that frustrating losing streak was three one-run losses, a 12-10 slugfest loss to St. Thomas, and a 6-4 loss to nationally-ranked Texas Lutheran in which the ladies led 4-2 in the sixth inning.
The Ladies, who were at one point 12-14 overall and off to a 7-2 start in conference play at the end of March following a series sweep over Schreiner, know what that they are capable and will not the sour ending to last season define them or dictate what can be accomplished in 2025.
"I am excited about the new season beginning this weekend," said Patterson. "It is a new season and a fresh start and I am pleased with our offseason preparation up to this point and ready to see what this group can accomplish."
Heather Ivey enters her third season with the Centenary softball program in 2025 and second as Assistant Coach after serving as the volunteer assistant for the Ladies in 2022.
The Ladies finished fifth in the standings last season at the conclusion of the regular season after being picked to finish fifth in the league in the preseason poll and earned the No. 5 seed for the conference tournament. Centenary's season ended in Seguin, Texas at the 2024 SCAC Tournament with a 3-2 loss to the University of St. Thomas.
The Ladies had one of their best offensive seasons in the division III era (2012-present) era of the program in 2024 as they hit .294 as a team with a .361 on-base percentage and slugged .365. Their team batting average is the third highest in the D3 era, OBP was fourth, and slugging ranks seventh. They scored 176 runs (fourth) and averaged 4.4 runs per game. Their 319 hits are third-most in a season in the D3 era ranked in the top five in the conference in batting average, hits, runs scored, RBI, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, walks, stolen bases, HBP, doubles, triples, and stolen bases during the regular season. The Ladies collected 10+ hits in game 17 times last season and stole 72 bases, ranking 93rd nationally.
The Ladies return five All-SCAC players from last season and eight players who started at least one game along with all six pitchers from the 2024 staff. Four freshmen and a pair of transfers will join the team this season as the Ladies' roster features a good blend of experience, depth, and new talent.
Junior P/UT Abigail Hodgson (Florence, Texas) was named Second-Team All-SCAC last season as one of the league's top and most versatile players. Four Ladies - senior P Anna Scarbrock (Alexandria, La.), senior LHP/IF Emma Shepherd (Athens, La.), junior SS/2B Catherine Stokes (Natchitoches, La.), and junior C/IF Jaeden Thrasher (Forney, Texas) were each named Honorable-Mention All-SCAC last season. Senior UT Viviana Rivero (Redondo Beach, Calif.) is also back after she was limited to just eight games due to injury last season. Rivero, who was named Honorable-Mention All-SCAC in 2023, figures to contribute heavily this season.
Other Returners:
Senior UT Alyssa Akers (Maurice, La.)
Freshman OF Caila Baldwin (Gretna, La.)
Sophomore UT Janae Bland (Livingston, Texas)
Junior UT River Boultinghouse (Saint Gabriel, La.)
Junior UT Emma Crow (Krotz Springs, La.)
Junior IF Morgan Dawson (Natchitoches, La.)
Sophomore OF Taylor Good (Flower Mound, Texas)
Sophomore IF Mandy Hoback (Wylie, Texas)
Junior P Riley Myers (Shreveport, La.)
Junior P/OF Alexis Roach (Pineville, La.)
Senior IF Brooke Sandefur (Denham Springs, La.)
Sophomore OF Noelle Sandmann (Huntsville, Texas)
Senior Abby Touchet (Shreveport, La.) and junior Laine Sullivan (Prairieville, La.) join the team as transfers along with four rookies – Carlie Abbott (Orange, Texas), Kaitlynn Alello (Denham Springs, La.), Taylor Crawford (Kingwood, Texas), and Libby Guidry (Iowa, La.).
Crow, Hodgson, Roach and Shepherd will all see time in the circle and at the plate or in the field as the Ladies' roster features flexibility.
Myers and Scarbrock each started 11 games in the circle last season, Roach started 10, Shepherd six, and Crow two. Hodgson did not record a start but she made eight appearances, and Shepherd and Crow each had one save.
Scarbrock was in the midst of an impressive season when she suffered an injury against Schreiner on March 29 at home last season and was forced to miss the Ladies' final 16 games. Despite that, she finished 6-5 in the circle with a 2.54 ERA in 13 appearances and 11 starts and was appropriately awarded with a spot on the all-conference team.
She struck out 22 and walked only six batters in 63.1, threw three complete games and now has 20 in her career which ranks third in the division III era (2012-present) in program history. Scarbrock ranks second in the D3 era in career wins (22), third in IP (280.1), and fourth in career ERA (3.37).
Schedule:
The Ladies are scheduled to play 40 regular-season games – 30 conference contests and 10 non-conference matchups. Centenary will play 23 games at home and 17 road contests.
The Ladies open SCAC play at home Feb. 22-23 versus St. Thomas and their first conference road series is scheduled for Feb. 28-March 1 at the University of the Ozarks. The Maroon and White's final conference series at home is set for April 11-12 versus McMurry University. Centenary closes the regular season on the road against Schreiner in Kerrville, Texas on April 26-27.
The Ladies will play their first nine games of the season at home as after this weekend's games with Millsaps, centenary welcomes Belhaven University to town on Feb. 15 followed by Lyon College (Feb. 16), and finally the three-game SCAC series with St. Thomas.
The 2025 SCAC Softball Tournament, a double-elimination event, will be held May 2-4 on the campus of Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas. The Ladies have made eight-consecutive SCAC Tournament appearances.
See the complete Ladies' season schedule here: https://www.gocentenary.com/sports/sball/2024-25/schedule
Admission is FREE to all Centenary home softball games. Live stats and live video stream are available for all Centenary home contests.
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