Chelsea Lotief To Sign With UL Softball: Special Indeed

Wednesday will be a special day for the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajun softball program, as Chelsea Lotief will sign a National Letter of Intent to sign with a program that her mother helped turn into one of the best in the college softball world, and one that her father has helped to keep that way.

Lotief, the daughter of former UL All-American and head coach Stefni Lotief, and current head coach Michael Lotief, will sign with the Cajuns at 10:30 am this morning at Ascension Episcopal School.

Signing as an outfielder, Lotief compiled a batting average of over .400 the last two seasons, while leading the Blue Gators in both triples and stolen bases.

A first team All-District selection, as well as an Academic All-State selection in each of the last two years, Lotief also helped the Louisiana Blast capture the United States Fastpitch Association state titles in 2012, 2013, and 2014, including a perfect 26-0 record a season ago as a centerfielder.

A fixture on the honor roll, Lotief is a three-sport standout athlete at Ascension Episcopal, playing point guard for the girls basketball team, while also participating on the track and field team, where she competed in the 4×100 and 4×200 relays, the javelin, and the long jump, in which she won the district title.

Lotief is the daughter of Michael and Stefni Lotief, who you may be somewhat familiar with.

Then Stefni Whitton, Lotief won 78 games as a pitcher from 1987-90 and still owns the second-lowest ERA in program history (0.66). She was the program’s first All-American in 1989 and became the first Cajun to receive first team All-America honors the following year.

In 2001, Lotief took over as head coach, and help guide the program to a 601-145 (.806) in her 12 seasons, ranking her fourth all-time in NCAA history in winning percentage.

The Cajuns won 50 or more games in a season eight times under Lotief, claiming 11 Sun Belt Conference regular season and 10 SBC tournament titles. She was honored as the Sun Belt Coach of the Year seven times and the Louisiana Coach of the Year five times.

Under Lotief, the Cajuns qualified for the NCAA Championships field 11 times, including appearances in the Women’s College World Series in 2003 and 2008.

Stefni Lotief currently works as a development officer with UL.

Chelsea will be playing for her father, Michael Lotief, who, in 12 seasons as either co-head coach or head coach of Louisiana, has helped the Cajuns advance to the NCAA tournament, compiling a 596-147-1 (.801) record in the process.

Originally a co-head coach of the Ragin’ Cajuns with Stefni, before taking over the reigns as the sole head coach prior to the 2013 season, Lotief has helped guide UL to six Women’s College World Series appearances, while compiling over 40 wins in every season at the helm.

Yes, it a special day for the UL softball program, and, of course, the proud parents. But today is really for Chelsea Lotief, who will be living out a dream.

“It has always been a dream of mine to play softball for UL,” Lotief said. “I have been around the program all my life and wouldn’t imagine a better program to take part in. The family and home environment of the school and athletic programs is truly not found anywhere else. I am blessed to be able to join a sisterhood and follow in my mother’s footsteps.”