Saint Francis (PA) head coach Jessica O’Donnell will not coach the Red Flash in the NCAA tournament.
O’Donnell is expecting her first child, and was advised by doctors not to travel long distances so close to giving birth. The Red Flash earned the regional 4-seed at the Austin, Texas regional – some 1,500 miles from Loretto, Pennsylvania where Saint Francis is located.
In a statement published on the Red Flash program’s social media, O’Donnell said, “I want to inform our Red Flash family that I will not be able to attend our NCAA regional in Austin, Texas this weekend. My husband and I are expecting our first child due any day now. Due to the great distance of the regional that our team was selected for and being this far along in my pregnancy, our doctor has recommended that I do not travel that far from home. I am so proud of our student-athletes who have worked so hard for this moment and I cannot wait to watch them compete on this national stage. I will be cheering them on and for the first time in my career, I get to be a fan. I want to thank my coaching staff (AnnaMarie Gatti and Jamie Focht), our deputy director of athletics/SWA and sports administrator, Erika Renwick, and our director of ops, Adam Evanko, for stepping up to help lead our team in my absence and for all of their support and encouragement during this time. I know our team is in great hands and I feel confident our ladies will represent Saint Francis University and our softball program well. Let’s go Red Flash!”
Now in her third season as the Red Flash head coach, O’Donnell has led the program to the NCAA tournament in every season since she took the helm, with the exception of 2020 when no tournament took place.
