Jessica Pistole is returning to NAIA Southern Oregon as the program’s head coach, according to a school release on Sunday night. Pistole spent the abbreviated 2020 season as the head coach at Division I San Diego, guiding the Toreros to a 15-12 during the shortened campaign. She was officially named as USD’s head coach in July 2019. Quoted in a Southern Oregon press release, Pistole said, “”SOU and Ashland are home to our family. When the season ended and we had a chance to step back from softball, we realized this is where the many pieces of family life and…
Author: jmcleod
The coronavirus preliminarily ended what was shaping up to be an exciting Division III softball season, and there was no opportunity to see some of the best D3 teams compete for a national championship. Thanks to one math professor, though, we have an idea of what could have been. Russ Goodman is a professor of mathematics and an assistant soccer coach at Central College, a Division III school in Iowa. In March, he simulated the Division I ‘March Madness’ basketball tournament following its cancellation; his math had Creighton winning over Duke in the national championship game. After basketball, though, Goodman…
Former Baylor softballer Brette Reagan has been elected to the program’s Hall of Fame. A three-time All-American during her career in Waco, Reagan played for the Bears from 2006-09. She finished her career as the program’s career record holder in walks, and ranks in the top three in four additional statistical categories, including second in slugging percentage and on-base percentage, and third all-time in home runs and RBIs. She batted .353 during her career, with 41 home runs and 156 RBIs, as well as 150 runs scored. She was part of the Lady Bears’ 2007 squad that appeared in the…
Chelsea Spencer has been named the head coach at Cal, the school announced late Wednesday. Spencer most recently spent the last two seasons as an assistant coach at Texas under Mike White, helping lead the Longhorns to the #9 national seed in the 2019 NCAA tournament. “I am absolutely thrilled that Chelsea will be coming home to Berkeley to be the next head coach of our softball program,” Cal athletic director Jim Knowlton said in a statement. “As a player at Cal, she helped us to the very top of collegiate softball, and in the years since her graduation, she…
Coker University has named Mackenzie Draine as the program’s new head softball coach. Draine takes the helm of the Cobras program following the departure of Travis McCall to become an assistant coach at USC-Upstate; McCall had led the program for six seasons, including the last two with Draine as an assistant coach. The last two years on the Coker coaching staff marked Draine’s second stint with the program. Her coaching resume includes a stint on staff at Cleveland State, as well as at Volunteer High School in Tennessee. As a player, Draine helped lead King University to an appearance in…
Former UT-Dallas utility player Lexi White has passed away, the school announced in a press release on Tuesday. She was 20 years old. White had endured a year-long battle with brain cancer, experiencing symptoms following her freshman year with the Comets that led to her diagnosis. “Lexi showed tremendous heart and fight after her initial diagnosis last spring,” UT-Dallas head coach James Kling said. “We will miss her greatly as a teammate and friend; but most of all, as a person. Lexi always had a smile on her face and worked hard both on and off the softball field. We…
Longtime pitching coach Marty McDaniel is leaving the Tennessee Lady Vols, sources confirmed to JWOS on Monday night. McDaniel spent sixteen years on staff with the Lady Vols, becoming nearly as synonymous with the team’s pitching staff as Ralph and Karen Weekly have with the program as a whole. Under McDaniel’s tutelage, the Lady Vols’ pitching staff set a national record for shutouts with 51 during the 2005 season, and have earned more than 700 wins during his tenure. He was part of the Tennessee coaching staff that helped the program become the first SEC team to reach the Women’s…
Pitcher Jennifer Brann is transferring to Maryland, sources confirmed to JWOS on Sunday. Following a four-year career at Penn, Brann entered the transfer portal on April 9th. A senior in 2020, she will play the 2021 season under the NCAA’s extended eligibility waiver. During her career with the Quakers, Brann recorded a 4.27 ERA and notched 167 strikeouts, but showed marked improvement season-over-season through the duration of her career. In the 2019 season, she collected a 2.42 ERA and a career-best .213 opponent’s batting average, along with a 3/1 strikeout/walk ratio. Brann appeared in seven of her team’s thirteen games…
Former South Carolina pitcher Karly Heath is transferring to Louisiana-Lafayette, sources confirmed to JWOS. A sophomore during the 2020 season, Heath will have three years of eligibility remaining under the NCAA’s extended eligibility waiver. Heath also announced the news on her Twitter page, writing “As one chapter closes in my life, it is time for me to start a new one. With that being said, I have decided to transfer to The University of Louisiana Lafayette. I can’t thank Coach Glasco and his staff enough for giving me this opportunity to go compete and a chance to win a national…
South Carolina standout infielder Jana Johns has entered the transfer portal, sources told JWOS on Friday. Johns started every game that she played in over the last three seasons for the Gamecocks, totaling 146 appearances, and posted a batting average of .301 during her tenure in Columbia. She notched 25 career home runs and 98 RBIs, with a slugging percentage of .577. The Calhoun, Georgia native’s finest season came in 2019, when she hit .348 on the year, with fifteen home runs and 44 RBIs. She registered thirty walks and a .500 on-base percentage during that season, her sophomore campaign.…