Three of the new teams joining the Big 12 are coming by way of the American Athletic Conference. Houston and UCF are both regular softball championship contenders in the AAC and their departure changes the conference’s footprint on the diamond as much as anywhere else. AAC commissioner Mike Aresco has already said that his league will expand, and a number of programs are reportedly under consideration to receive invites from the American. Football will be of paramount importance during such discussions, but since this is a softball site, we decided to take a look at what the softball implications would…
Author: jmcleod
The Washington Huskies have filled out their coaching staff, the school announced on Friday afternoon. Kyle Nobach – a native of the state of Washington and 2018 graduate of Oregon State – will be a full-time assistant coach for the Huskies’ program. Nobach spent one year as the associate head baseball coach at Everett Community College in 2018 and served as head coach of the Bend Elks, a summer collegiate baseball team, in 2019. Since 2019, Nobach has worked as a private instructor in Washington, working primarily with hitters. A UW press release noted of Nobach’s duties with the Huskies…
Austin Peay will join the ASun Conference in all sports, the school and league announced jointly on Friday. The addition of the Governors will increase the ASun membership to 13 programs, and follows the league’s addition of three new schools that became effective on July 1, 2021. Two of those schools that realigned in July – namely Eastern Kentucky and Jacksonville State – were formerly members of the Ohio Valley Conference with APSU. When their new conference alignment becomes official on July 1, 2022, Austin Peay will join the ASun in all sports and become immediately eligible for conference titles…
Following the recent announcement that the Women’s College World Series will expand from a 7-day event to a 9-day event, the NCAA released the daily game schedule for the 2022 event. Traditionally, all eight teams in the WCWS play their opening games on the Thursday after Memorial Day and that scheduling will remain unchanged. Different, however, will be the weekend scheduling. In years past, Friday night saw two winner’s bracket games that featured the winning teams from Thursday. Under the new scheduling, however, Friday will now feature two elimination games between the losers from Thursday’s matchups. “That adjustment is required…
South Florida has added Lisa Navas to the program’s coaching staff, JWOS has learned. Navas will serve as the volunteer assistant coach for the Bulls, sources confirmed to JWOS. Her hiring completes Ken Eriksen’s coaching staff for 2022. A veteran coach, Navas spent the last nine seasons on staff at South Carolina as Associate Head Coach. She served as the team’s primary infield and catching coach during her tenure with the Gamecocks and helped guide the program to a Super Regional berth in 2018. Prior to her tenure with the Gamecocks, Navas worked with the Carolina Diamonds’ professional team and…
Fresno State pitcher Hailey Dolcini is transferring from the Bulldogs program. Dolcini announced her plans on social media on Thursday morning. “Red Wave… thank you,” she began her statement. “Thank you for welcoming me into Fresno with open arms and making this place feel like home. None of the success I had would have been possible without all of your support throughout the years. I am beyond thankful for my time here, the memories made and for all the people that I have met along the way. “Those of you that know me, know how much I love this program…
Alyssa Tiumalu is the new head coach at Iona, the school announced on Thursday morning. Tiumalu takes the reins of the Gaels’ program after five seasons as an assistant coach at St. John’s. She was part of the Big East Coaching Staff of the Year in both 2017 and 2019, and helped lead the program to a pair of conference regular-season titles. Prior to her time at St. John’s, Tiumalu spent a single season as a high school assistant coach and one year at Southern Utah. A 2014 graduate of UCLA, Tiumalu participated in the NCAA tournament with the Bruins…
Kimberly Stiles is the new head coach at Holy Cross, the school announced late Wednesday evening. Stiles most recently was the head coach at Division II Charleston for five seasons and led the Golden Eagles’ program to a 141-83 record during her tenure. In Stiles’ first season, 2017, the Golden Eagles advanced to the NCAA tournament and the squad was also ranked 23rd in the nation when the 2020 season abruptly ended. “Kimberly Stiles will be an exceptional leader for our softball student-athletes,” Holy Cross athletic director Marcus Blossom said in a school statement. “She will energize our team with…
Kansas City has hired Breanna Wonderly as the program’s new pitching coach. Wonderly spent the last two seasons on staff at Austin Peay, guiding the Governors’ pitching staff during the 2020 and 2021 seasons. She helped lead the staff to 38 wins in two years with a 3.32 team ERA during the ’21 campaign. Prior to her tenure at Austin Peay, Wonderly spent one season on staff at Morehead State. During her playing career, Wonderly was a two-time All-Region honoree and an All-Big Ten First-Team selection as a senior. She went on to play one season for the Chicago Bandits…
Memphis head coach Natalie Poole and Montana head coach Melanie Meuchel are the newest members of the Division I Softball Committee. Poole and Meuchel began their 4-year terms on the committee in August and will serve until 2025. The D1 Softball Committee is responsible for, among other responsibilities, selecting the field for the NCAA tournament. Now entering her tenth season as the head coach at Memphis, Poole owns more than 200 victories during her tenure leading the Tigers. In 2017, the Tigers reached the semifinals of the conference tournament and set a single-season wins record in 2018 with 37 victories.…