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LaDonia Hughes

Last College: LSU, 2005 Position: Head Coach Experience: 2nd Year

LaDonia Hughes is in her second season as the head coach of the Oakland University softball team. Hughes was named to the position on Sept. 14, 2010.

Hughes is very familiar with Oakland and The Summit League having spent four years as an assistant coach at Western Illinois. She assisted in helping the Fighting Leathernecks win three regular season title, one conference tournament and posting a record of 107-94 with a mark of 69-38 over the last two years.

In 2007, WIU hit .329, the best average in league games. Hughes also coached left fielder Britt Mason to Summit League First Team honors.

In 2008, WIU entered the conference tournament as the number four seed. They proceeded to go 3-0, becoming the lowest seed to win the tournament. The Leathernecks then recorded their first regional win by beating Drake 3-1. Hughes coached Colleen Biebel to all-league second team honors. Biebel was second on the team hitting .308 and had two doubles and a triple, drove in 10 runs and had 45 hits.

In 2009, Hughes assisted in coaching Western Illinois to an overall record of 34-19, the fifth most wins in school history. They would go 21-2 in league action to capture the regular season crown. She coached left fielder Ashley Campbell to Summit League First Team honors, the only freshman to be selected to the team.

As a team, the squad hit .300 which ranked among the top 25 in the country. WIU would go out to set school record team records for runs (270) and RBI's (243).

In 2010, the Leathernecks finished 35-19 overall, their second straight 34+ win season. They would finish 19-2 in The Summit League, capturing the regular season title for the third time in the last four years. Hughes coached Biebel and Beth Golitko to all-league first team honors.

Hughes got her coaching start with the Richmond Storm 18U, an ASA travel team, in 2003. Her first collegiate position was as an assistant at Daytona Beach Community College in 2006.

Hughes started her collegiate playing career at Lake City Community College (2001-02). In 2001, she helped lead the team to the National Junior College Athletic Association Division 1 national championship.

Hughes transferred to LSU where she helped lead the Tigers to the NCAA Regional Tournament both seasons (2003-04). In 2004, LSU beat Illinois 4-1 to win the Waco, Texas Regional and advance to the College World Series for the second time in school history. The Tigers went 3-2 to finish third in the world series.

Hughes scored 53 runs, drove in 29 runs, stole 28 bases while batting .350 in 69 games. She was named to the Louisville Slugger/NFCA All-American Second Team and the All-South Region and All-SEC first teams.

After her collegiate career, Hughes played six seasons in the National Professional Fastpitch Association (NPF). She stole 29 bases, drove in 44 runs, scored 89 runs and batted .301 for her career. In addition, Hughes played in the championship finals four times.

In 2004, she helped the fourth seeded New England Riptide upset top seed Texas Thunder to get to the championship final. Following the season, Hughes was traded to the Arizona Heat (2005-06). She was named the team's Defensive Player of the Year in 2006committing just one error while starting 46 of 48 games.

In 2007 and 2008, Hughes played for the Washington Glory. In her first season, the Glory beat the Rockford Thunder two games to one to win the NPF Championship. In 2008, Washington returned to the finals, only to fall to the Akron Racers.

In 2009, Hughes was playing for the USSSA Pride. The Pride reached the championship finals, where they lost to the Rockford Thunder. Hughes became the first player to reach the finals three consecutive times.

A native of Farmville, Vir., Hughes has an associate's in general studies from Lake City Community College and a bachelor's in general studies from LSU. She is finishing a Masters in liberal arts and sciences at Western Illinois.