MGCCC adds Raines to softball staff

PERKINSTON — Mississippi Gulf Coast softball has added another strong coach to its staff with the arrival of Ally Raines, who brings a wealth of junior college knowledge.

"I felt like I was called to be here," she said. "I thought this was the best place for me to come and grow and give back and serve the softball community."

Raines will concentrate on helping the Bulldog outfielders in her first season at Perk. She will help with head coach Eric Neel on the hitting side, and with fellow assistant Danielle Barton in the weight room.

"She's a very knowledgeable and energetic young coach," Neel said. "She willing to do whatever we need to done to keep us at the level we're at because she's very much a team player."

This is her second collegiate coaching position after being an assistant in 2020 at Hutchinson Community College, her alma mater. The Blue Dragons were 18-6 when their season was cut short by the coronavirus pandemic. 

Raines was an outfielder and first baseman at Hutchinson in 2014-16, where she earned All-NJCAA Region VI First Team and All-Jayhawk Conference East Second Team honors as a sophomore. She hit .344 with 11 doubles, seven home runs, 47 RBI and 34 runs that season, as the Blue Dragons went 38-8. Raines also won NJCAA Player of the Week honors and set a Hutchinson single-game RBI record.

She played third base and outfield at Oklahoma Wesleyan University in 2017 and 2018. The Eagles played in the 2018 National Tournament. She finished with a bachelor's in sports and recreation management.

Raines is from Round Rock, Texas.

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