Danyele Gomez
2025 Finalist
New Orleans Sports Hall of Fame
Softball, 1998-2007
Cabrini HS/UL Lafayette
Photo Courtesy of University of Louisiana Athletics.
Danyele Gomez was a sensational all-around athlete at Cabrini High School before becoming a Hall of Fame softball player at the University of Louisiana.
Gomez was the 2002 Cabrini High School valedictorian and The Times Picayune’s female athlete of the year in both volleyball and softball during both her junior and senior seasons. During her senior year at Cabrini, she hit .562 with 10 home runs and 52 RBI while registering a 23-0 record on the mound with an 0.29 ERA and 229 strikeouts.
As a UL outfielder for co-head coaches Stefni and Michael Lotief from 2003-2006, Gomez was a three-time NFCA All-American, becoming only the fifth student-athlete in softball program history to be named a three-time Division I All-American (2003, 2005, 2006). She was also a four-time All-Louisiana selection and a three-time All-South Region selection. She earned the distinction of first-ever, two-time Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year, was a two-time Louisiana Player of the Year, and Sun Belt and Louisiana Freshman of the Year.
As a freshman in 2003, Gomez helped guide the Ragin' Cajuns to the school's fourth Women's College World Series appearance – the first WCWS berth of Lotief era – where she delivered a mammoth home run shot off of Texas' Cat Osterman in the Cajuns' opening game. In addition, Gomez was selected to compete for Team USA as a member of the Elite team.
As a senior (2006), she won the Sun Belt Conference's "triple crown" with a league-leading 30 homers, 68 RBI and a .442 batting average, and set school single season records for homers, runs (77) and slugging percentage (.957). Her 30 homers made her just the third player in NCAA Division I history to reach that mark in a season.
Gomez completed her career as a Ragin' Cajun with a .359 batting average, 83 home runs (fourth in NCAA history at the time), 588 total bases and a .946 fielding percentage. She received a bachelor's degree in nursing in 2007.
In 2009, she was presented with the LHSAA Golden Torch Award recognizing an individual that exemplifies the term “student-athlete” and serves as a positive role model. In 2012, she was inducted into the UL Sports Hall of Fame.
