USA Softball and Staff Reports
Recent Airline graduate Raelin Chaffin has been selected as one of 18 players that will represent the United States as members of the 2021 USA Softball U-18 Junior Women’s National Team.
The team was selected following a two-day trial held at the USA Softball Hall of Fame Complex in Oklahoma City.
Selected by members of the Junior Women’s National Team Selection Committee, the 16-player roster and two replacement players will compete at the World Baseball Softball Confederation U-18 World Cup in Lima, Peru, Aug. 28-Sept. 5 and the Junior Pan American Games in Barranquilla, Columbia, Nov. 25-Dec. 5.
In a post on her Facebook page, Chaffin wrote,“Excited to represent my country on the USA JR National team! Thanking God for opportunities like this one! Geaux Tigers and Geaux Team USA.”
Chaffin, a three-time All-Parish MVP and two-time Class 5A All-State first-team pitcher, is an LSU signee.
She led Airline to the Class 5A title game last spring, finishing 17-1 with a 1.054 ERA and 206 strikeouts in 99 2/3 innings. Chaffin also hit six home runs and had 19 RBI.
In 2020, the season was canceled in mid-March because of the COVID-19 pandemic with Airline riding a 10-game winning streak.
As a sophomore in 2019, Chaffin helped the Lady Vikings reach the semifinals with an 18-2 record and an ERA of 0.614.
As a freshman, Chaffin was 21-3 with a 1.053 ERA.
In 2014, Chaffin and her older sister Makenzie were members of the Bossier All-Star team that finished runner-up in the Little League Softball World Series. Makenzie plays for Northwestern State.
Raelin committed to LSU before her freshman year at Airline.
“I am enthused for this team to display their athleticism and talent,” 2021 JWNT Head Coach Kyla Holas (Pasadena, Texas) said in a USA Softball press release.“This will be most of the team’s first international experience and opportunity to represent the United States of America; however, I feel their attributes balance out well and I look forward to returning back to action after over a year hiatus.”
Due to the postponement of the WBSC U-18 World Cup, which was originally scheduled to take place in August 2020, the WBSC extended the age eligibility to allow athletes who were eligible for the 2020 event with the opportunity to participate in the rescheduled event this year.
With the extended age eligibility, the 2021 USA Softball U-18 Junior Women’s National Team roster includes one member of the 2019 U-17 JWNT World Championship Gold Medal team, six current NCAA Division I student-athletes and 12 committed and/or signed NCAA Division I student athletes – four of which also advanced to the JWNT Selection Trials through the USA Softball High Performance Program (HPP).
