By Tom Dodge
Sports Editor
They won two national championships while at LSU Eunice, now they have a chance to add to their softball accomplishments at the next level.
Two-time NJCAA Division II All-American Rebecca Skains will play for the Southeastern Louisiana University Lady Lions this fall.
Skains (West Ouachita) finished the season with a .419 batting average including 80 hits, 18 home runs, 74 RBI, 65 runs scored, 25 walks and a program record 27 doubles.
Skains was named MVP and Offensive Player of the NJCAA Division II national tournament.
Skains finished the tournament going 8-for-15 with eight runs scored, nine RBI and six home runs.
It was her second MVP honors including a strong performance in last years’ world series.
As a freshman, Skains finished 103-of-216 hitting with 82 runs scored and 83 RBI, 10 walks, 22 doubles along with a school record 103 hits and 25 home runs.
Skains finished the 2016 season third in the nation in home runs 25 and sixth in the nation in RBI.
Bobbi Smith (West Ouachita) is heading to the University of South Alabama in Mobile, Alabama.
Smith started 54 games and batted .381 as she was 59-for-155 at the plate.
Of her 59 hits, 18 were for extra bases including 12 doubles and 88 total bases.
Smith had five home runs and drove in 27 runs, while scoring 56 runs of her own.
Smith also had a .568 slugging percentage and a .458 on-base percentage, while successfully wiping 24 of her 25 steal attempts.
For her play in the national tournament, Smith was named to the all-tournament team after registering five hits and scoring five runs.
As a freshman at LSUE, Smith posted 49 hits in 139 at-bats, while also walking 16 times. She batted .353, had a .423 on-base percentage and a .489 slugging percentage and was a perfect 24 for 24 in stolen bases, while also recording nine doubles, three triples.
Smith scored 38 runs, drove in 23 and had two home runs during the 2016 season with both of her home runs coming during the NJCAA tournament and earned all-tournament honors.
LSUE’s Jeanmarie Angelle (Cecilia) will continue her softball career at Delta State University in Cleveland, Mississippi.
The Lady Statesmen compete in the NCAA Division II’s Gulf South Conference.
Angelle hit 51-of-147 for a .347 batting average with 36 runs scored, 11 doubles, six home runs and 36 RBI with 15 walks.
Angelle earned all-tournament honors as she went 7-for-13 with five RBI including a two-run home run against Wabonsee Community College to open the series.
As a freshman, Angelle went 60-of-175 for a .343 batting average with 12 doubles, nine home runs, 19 walks and 40 RBI.
Darby Bishop returns to her home state of Mississippi to play at Blue Mountain College.
Bishop is from Hickory, Mississippi and played ball for Newton County High School.
Blue Mountain competes in NAIA’s Southern States Athletic Conference.
In 2016, Bishop earned All-American honors as she was named the nation’s best designated player.
Bishop led LSUE with a .480 batting average and finished the season with 80 RBI, 12 home runs, two triples, 15 doubles, 64 runs scored and 95 hits.
Her 80 RBI placed her seventh in the country.
Bishop had 12 walks and only four strikeouts in 198 plate appearances.
As a sophomore, Bishop went 73-for-191 for a .382 batting average.
She had 44 runs scored with 15 doubles, two triples, five home runs with 51 RBI with 17 walks.
Abigail Leonards (Iota) will move to Arkansas-Monticello to continue her stellar college career.
Leonards earned back-to-back tournament top pitcher honors as she helped the Lady Bengals win consecutive titles.
UAM competes in the NCAA Division II Great American Conference.
Leonards suffered a significant face injury in the opening weekend of the season but recovered to finish the season with a 13-5 record and two saves.
Leonards pitched 117 innings and allowed 119 hits with 62 strikeouts, 27 walks, 48 earned runs and a 2.87 ERA.
As a freshman, Leonards finished with a 24-4 record, allowing 169 hits over 173.1 innings pitched, 78 strikeouts, 42 walks, 67 earned runs ad a 2.71 ERA.