Louisiana Tech head coach Maria Winn has stepped down due to personal reasons. Winn spent one year as the Lady Techsters’ head coach, guiding the program through the abbreviated 2020 campaign. The squad finished the shortened year with an 8-16 overall record. Prior to taking the helm at Louisiana Tech, Winn spent three years leading Tyler Junior College; her coaching resume also includes a 12-year stint at Western Nebraska Community College. She collected nearly 700 wins at the two schools. In a statement released by the school, Winn said, “I would like to thank Dr. (Les) Guice, Tommy McClelland and…
Author: jmcleod
Renada Davis is probably best remembered for her towering home runs and clutch hits during her playing career at North Carolina State. Just a few years removed from her days prowling the infield in Raleigh, Davis now spends her days with a different kind of dirt. Davis earned her Bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Science, and she “went pro” in her chosen field, now serving as an Extension Associate for the LSU AgCenter in the Northeast Region of Louisiana. Her job includes everything from researching crop sustainability to driving a tractor at times. “I have always loved the outdoors, whether it…
Ball State has been a softball coaching factory over the last few years, turning out top-level coaches left and right and sending several coaches to jobs at Power Five schools. While Megan Bartlett certainly fit the moniker of a quality coach with a good resume, she didn’t expect to leave BSU anytime soon. Having settled into a comfortable life in Muncie, and at the helm of a rising program, Bartlett was in a good place. Then she got a phone call from an old friend. Steve Singleton, an assistant coach at Texas, was calling to ask Bartlett how she’d feel about…
Joey Lye’s resignation as the head coach at Bucknell was not expected, but also made sense due to her commitments to the Canadian national team. The Bison have ascended to a perennial contender’s role in the Patriot League over the last few years, so a new head coach will not have to take on a full rebuilding project upon being hired. The Bison finished the abbreviated 2020 season with an 8-14 overall record, including wins over Rutgers and Marshall. The team collected a .267 batting average during the year, along with a staff ERA of 3.62. Leading hitter and 2019…
UAB has hired Scott Woodard as an assistant coach. Woodard most recently served as an assistant coach at Auburn from 2013-17. He was part of the Tigers’ coaching staff that helped lead the program to back-to-back Women’s College World Series appearances in 2015 and ’16, including a national runner-up finish in 2016. “I am absolutely thrilled to announce Scott Woodard as our next assistant softball coach at UAB,” first-year Blazers head coach Joe Guthrie said in a statement. “He was at the top of the list of who we wanted to hire and will compliment Courtnay and I very well…
Premier Girls Fastpitch, commonly referred to as PGF, and Perfect Game have announced a new partnership that will join the companies’ respective forces to form PG Softball. A press release on Monday said that the partnership “will provide individualization and exposure to athletes in the rapidly growing world of amateur softball.” PG Softball will produce national player rankings, consistent evaluation metrics, and national scouting reports, according to the same release. The merged organizations will lead to co-branded national events, with the group’s stated purpose of becoming the “top player service in the country.” Both entities will continue to grow their…
Former UCLA softball outfielder and National Champion Stevie Wisz is featured in a new trading card release. Debuting on July 22nd, the 2020 Upper Deck Goodwin Champions set features fifty individuals, including athletes and other media personalities. Tiger Woods, Alex Morgan, Ben Simmons, and Wayne Gretzky are among those also featured; Wisz is the only softball player to be included in this year’s edition of the product. The Goodwin Champions release depicts a diverse representation of athletes and various celebrities. Each featured person has two cards in the base set, including both horizontal and vertical photographs. The set also features…
Northern Iowa has hired Monica Wright as the program’s new pitching coach, sources confirmed to JWOS late Sunday. Wright spent the last five seasons as the top assistant coach at Valparaiso, including the last three years with the title of associate head coach. She was part of the coaching staff that guided the Crusaders to the NCAA tournament in 2016, and helped engineer a turnaround of the team’s pitching staff. From 2015-18, the Valpo pitchers saw their cumulative ERA drop by more than four runs per game. During the 2020 season, Wright’s staff led the Missouri Valley conference in opponent’s…
Mario Hernandez has been hired as an assistant coach at Valparaiso, sources confirmed to JWOS on Friday. This summer, Hernandez served as the head coach of the Manatee Squeeze in the Florida Gulf Coast League. He led the Squeeze to a 17-6 overall record during the summer season, and his team played in the league championship game. Hernandez also coached one of the league’s All-Star teams, and was part of the coaching staff for the 3-game series that pitted a group of league All-Stars against the USSSA Pride. On the collegiate side, Hernandez most recently spent the 2020 season as…
Megan Dowdy Curry has been named the head coach at Asbury University. Curry most recently served as an assistant coach at Mercer, working with the Bears’ outfielders and slappers and serving as the base running coach. Prior to her tenure at Mercer, Curry spent two years on staff at Samford, her alma mater. A 2016 alumnus of the Bulldog program, Curry was the 2016 SoCon Player of the Year and was elected three times to the All-Conference First-Team. As a senior in 2016, she led the nation in doubles per game during the regular season and set program records for…