2026 Season Preview: Centenary Softball
The Centenary softball team opens its regular season on Saturday against Millsaps College in a non-conference doubleheader set for 1 PM at the Millsaps Softball Complex.
Game 1
Game 1
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 3 |
|
|
0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 11 | 1 |
Game 2
Game 2
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 1 |
|
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | X | 3 | 11 | 0 |
Shreveport - The Centenary softball team opens its regular season on Saturday against Millsaps College in a non-conference doubleheader set for 1 PM at the Millsaps Softball Complex.
Live stats and live video are available for Saturday's DH at the links below:
STATS: https://gomajors.com/sidearmstats/softball/summary
VIDEO: https://gomajors.com/sports/2023/7/25/millsaps-video.aspx
Game two between the Ladies and Majors is scheduled for 3 PM. Saturday's games are the first two of 38 regular-season games – 30 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference contests and eight non-conference games. The Ladies are set for 17 home games and 21 road/neutral contests.
SERIES HISTORY:
The Ladies swept the Majors in a DH in Shreveport to open last season, winning game one by a score of 4-3 in nine innings and then won 10-3 in game two. Millsaps leads the all-time series 18-8.
THE COACHING STAFF:
Whitney Patterson enters her fifth season as head coach in 2026 after leading the Ladies to a single-season program record 21 wins in 2025 and an appearance in the SCAC Tournament semifinals. Centenary finished the 2025 season at 21-22 overall and 14-15 in SCAC play, and went 2-2 in the SCAC Tournament falling one game shy of advancing to the championship round. Centenary's 21 wins last season are the most in a single season in the D3 era and the 14 conference wins are also the most in a single season in the D3 era.
Heather Ivey enters her fourth season with the Centenary softball program in 2026 and third as Assistant Coach after serving as the volunteer assistant for the Ladies in 2022. Ivey assisted head coach Whitney Patterson last season in leading the Ladies to a single-season program record 21 wins and an appearance in the SCAC Tournament semifinals. Ivey was chosen as Centenary Athletics' Assistant Coach of the Year at the annual end of season banquet in April.
Former Ladies' star Abby Touchet has joined the staff this season as a volunteer assistant. Touchet earned All-SCAC honors last season was one of the conference's top offensive players all season in her first with the Ladies after transferring from TLU. She ranked in the top 10 in the league in OBP, slugging, hits, RBI, doubles, home runs, total bases, BB, AB, and plate appearances.
THE ROSTER:
The Ladies' roster features 15 returnees and five newcomers – four true freshmen and one transfer. The roster includes nine seniors, three juniors, four sophomores, and four freshmen.
Two All-SCAC players are back this season in sophomore SS Kaitlynn Alello (Denham Springs, La.) and senior 2B Catherine Stokes (Natchitoches, La.). Junior CF Noelle Sandmann (Huntsville, Texas) is also back after a solid sophomore season which was capped by her being named to the All-Tournament Team following the conclusion of the SCAC championship.
Allelo shined in her first season with the Ladies as she was one of their top all-around players. She hit .318 (.504 OBP/.388 slugging) with 27 hits, 19 runs scored, 12 RBI, four stolen bases, and 12 BB. She led the conference and country in HBP with 20, ranked in the top 10 in the conference in sacrifice bunts (7) and had eight multi-hit games.
Stokes had another solid season for the Ladies as she started all 43 games and hit .286 (.340 OBP/.329 slugging) with 40 hits (third on team), 22 runs scored (second on team), six doubles (tied for third on team), 12 RBI, 11 BB, four stolen bases, and only 7 K in a team-high 140 at-bats. She posted nine multi-hit games and finished with a .976 fielding %.
Sandmann turned in a solid second-year campaign as she was the Ladies' everyday starting CF and scored a team-best 29 runs and added 31 hits with seven RBI. She was 8-9 in stolen base attempts and had five sacrifice hits. She was also had 15 walks and was hit by a pitch twice. She had seven multi-hit games during the season and three came in the final five games of the season. In the SCAC Tournament, she went 5-15 with a pair of multi-hit performances which included a season-high three hits on May 3 in the 6-1 win over McMurry.
Senior P/UT Abigail Hodgson (Florence, Texas) started 39 games last season and was the Ladies' primary first baseman and had an impressive season as she hit an even .300 (.336 OBP/.327 slugging) with 33 hits, 16 RBI, and three doubles. She also had a .992 fielding % with only two errors committed in 247 chances.
Senior UT Emma Crow (Krotz Springs, La.) was the Ladies' starting RF last season and had 18 hits, 14 runs scored, 10 RBI, and made only one error all season to finish with a .981 fielding %. She also made four appearances in the circle and finished 1-0 in seven IP.
Sophomore OF Taylor Good (Flower Mound, Texas) was a key contributor for the Ladies late in the season as she started several games at designated player and in the outfield and finished .273 with 15 hits, four runs scored, 10 RBI, a double, and a home run. She had an impressive SCAC Tournament as she was 5-12 with two RBI. Good provided one of the Ladies' most exciting moments of the season as she belted a two-out, game-tying, pinch-hit home run on April 11 at home against McMurry in the bottom of the seventh inning that sent the game to extra innings. The homer was Good's first of her career.
Senior OF Laine Sullivan (Prairieville, La.) had a productive first season with the Ladies as she posted 26 hits, 18 runs scored, 20 RBI (third on team), four extra-base hits, six multi-hit performances, and had a career-high four RBI in a 7-5 win with two hits against Schreiner on April 25. She walked 11 times and was 5-5 in stolen-base attempts in her 42 games (all starts).
Senior C/IF Jaeden Thrasher (Forney, Texas) was limited to just 13 games last season as she battled injuries but could be a key to the Ladies' success as she was named Honorable-Mention All-SCAC in her first two seasons and has six career home runs, 29 extra-base hits, and 52 RBI. Senior P/OF Alexis Roach (Pineville, La.) was third in both appearances (15) and games started (12) last season as she finished 3-4 with a 5.55 ERA and worked 46.2 innings.
Senior UT River Boultinghouse (Saint Gabriel, La.), senior IF Morgan Dawson (Natchitoches, La.), senior P Riley Myers (Shreveport, La.), and a trio of sophomores - Carlie Abbott (Orange, Texas), Taylor Crawford (Kingwood, Texas), and Libby Guidry (Iowa, La.) are also back this season.
Junior UT Hilary Pillaro (Centerville, La.) joins the Ladies after transferring from Belhaven University and the other newcomers are all freshmen – UT Kyleigh Hamilton (Bridge City, Texas), P/1B Dixie Williams (Haughton, La.), INF Mary Pipes (Monroe, La.), and P/INF Haydyn Schexnayder (Egan, La.).
THE SCHEDULE:
The Ladies will waste no time in jumping into league play as they play host to Schreiner University Feb. 13-14 at the Centenary Softball Complex and then finish the month with a three-game set at Concordia University from Feb. 28—March 1.
Centenary's other home conference opponents are Hendrix College, the University of Dallas, Texas Lutheran University, and McMurry University. The Ladies' other conference road trips take them to LeTourneau University, Austin College, the University of St. Thomas, and University of the Ozarks.
The Ladies will play in the Belhaven University Tournament Feb. 20-21 in Jackson, Miss., and face Howard Payne University in a non-conference DH on March 17 at home. Centenary's final home games will come against McMurry April 10-11 before finishing the season on the road against St. Thomas and Ozarks.
The 2026 SCAC Softball Tournament will be held May 1-3 in Abilene, Texas and hosted by McMurry. The top six teams in the standings at the conclusion of the regular season qualify for the event. The Ladies, picked to finish fifth in the conference preseason poll, have now made nine-consecutive SCAC Tournament appearances.
See the complete Ladies' season schedule here: https://www.gocentenary.com/sports/sball/2025-26/schedule
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