By WILLIAM WEATHERS, Journal Sports
BATON ROUGE – LSU softball coach Beth Torina jokes the volume in the team’s dugout is turned down when junior Raelin Chaffin’s pitching.
“She yells the entire time and when she’s not there I don’t like it,” Torina said before Thursday’s practice. “I enjoy her positivity, pumping people up. She does such a great job of celebrating all the little things that her teammates do.”
Chaffin, a former two-time Class 5A All-State selection at Airline High in Bossier City, is a ray of boundless energy going into the start of postseason play which marks her third NCAA Regional.
Top regional seed LSU (40-15, seeded ninth nationally) is scheduled to open the Baton Rouge Regional at 11 a.m. today against the region’s fourth seed, Jackson State (33-17), at Tiger Park. The Tigers are also joined in the four-team field by second-seeded California (36-17) and third-seeded Southern Illinois (42-9) who begin at 1:30 p.m.
“I’ve been in regionals the past two years,” said Chaffin, who was LSU’s winning pitcher in last year’s 12-2 opening win over Prairie View. “I have a really good feeling we’re going to come out on top. The last two years wasn’t how we wanted, but I’m very hopeful about this year.”
Chaffin (10-5, 2.95 ERA, 69 strikeouts, 3 complete games, 2 shutouts) is prepared to handle whatever role Torina hands out. She’s started 14 times this season but has also flourished in relief where and second with two saves.
Without a set rotation, Torina keeps her pitchers on their toes until revealing the starting lineup in pregame warm-ups.
“I’m used to it,” said Chaffin, 22-8 in her career. “It’s my third year here. I’m going to prepare like I’m about to pitch every game. I leave my apartment thinking that I could pitch in every game because you always have someone who’s starting and someone who can relieve.”
Staff ace Sydney Berzon believes Chaffin’s been an integral part of this year’s team.
“She carries herself with so much confidence all the time and I think that kind of pours joy and intensity into us as a team,” Berzon said. “It shows the team how we should carry ourselves. I think she’s a great example of that.”
Chaffin, who will graduate in psychology/pre-nursing in 2025, said it was incumbent to take a bigger view of her role and focus more on her teammates. So, when she’s not in the game, she urges on either Berzon or Kelley Lynch in the circle, and when the team is on offense, she becomes the biggest cheerleader from the top of dugout steps.
The reciprocation is mutual where Chaffin is considered a team favorite.
“That was my goal this whole year and it makes a difference in your performance as well,” said Chaffin, a two-time selection to the All-SEC Honor Roll. “You can be happy for everyone else whether you’re performing or not. Whenever you’re performing everyone else is happy for you. That’s made a difference in my confidence. I just want to be a good teammate to everybody else.”
The 5-foot-6 Chaffin has logged a career-high 80.2 innings, winning eight of her first 10 decisions this spring that included a complete-game two-hit performance with five strikeouts in a 10-2 win over Nicholls State on March 26.
Chaffin opened the season Feb. 10 with a career-high seven strikeouts in a 7-0 win over Pitt and added a two-hit shutout win (2-0) over Houston with five strikeouts on Feb. 24. She followed on March 2 with a 3-1 win over eventual NCAA Regional entrant San Diego State limiting the Aztecs to a run on three hits with four strikeouts in six innings.
The rigors of Southeastern Conference play, though, provided a share of bumpy experiences. Chaffin, the winning pitcher in a March 9 relief effort against Kentucky, either picked up a loss or a no decision in four straight outings.
Chaffin halted that stretch with a potential breakthrough performance on April 27 with 4.2 innings of scoreless relief in a 4-1 loss to Arkansas.
“It’s a game of failure and that’s the hardest part of this game,” Chaffin said. “Learning that you’re playing a game that you’re going to fail at the majority of the time. It always gives me something to work on. If it was too easy it wouldn’t be fun.”
Chaffin made it look effortless at times during a dominant career at Airline which reached the state tournament in her sophomore and senior years in between the COVID pandemic in 2020. She was chosen “Miss Softball” in the state capping her prep career.
In three full seasons the hard-throwing right-hander was 59-8 with an 0.90 ERA and 752 strikeouts, leading the Lady Vikings to a state runner-up finish in ’21.
“She’s going to be huge this weekend,” Torina said of Chaffin. “We don’t make this tournament without her. I think she’ll be a huge part of what we do this weekend in some way, shape or form. Whether it’s starting or relieving, I’m sure we’ll see her as a part of it and she’ll play a huge role.”
Contact William at willou@cox.net