Colorado Mesa has removed the interim tag from Mercedes Bohte naming her head coach of the program. Bohte was appointed to the interim position in March, subsequently guiding the Mavericks to a 39-5 record while winning the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Championship and advancing to the NCAA DII Postseason. She has been on the coaching staff with CMU since the 2013 season.
Shults Named Head Coach At Boise
Boise State has named Justin Shults their new head coach. Shults spent the past three seasons as an assistant coach at Oregon helping rebuild the Ducks program. UO reached the NCAA Austin Regional championship game in 2021. In addition to his time in Eugene, he had stops on coaching staffs at Southwestern Oklahoma State, Miami (OH), and Fresno State.
UMass Turns To Alum Great Henderson
Massachusetts has named alum Danielle Henderson their new head coach. The UMass Hall of Fame inductee, three-time All-American, and Olympic Gold Medalist returns to the Minutewomen after seven seasons leading the program at UMass Lowell. She joined the River Hawks as head coach after serving as associate head coach at Massachusetts in 2014.
Garza Officially Out At Fresno
As RTS reported early last month, Fresno State made official today in releasing that Linda Garza would be stepping down as head coach. Garza had taken what was termed as a “leave of absence” back in early April, and never returned to coach the Bulldogs. Garza led Fresno State for five seasons and compiled a record of 146-77.
Champ Sooners Finish No. 1
To no surprise, the champs are No. 1. Oklahoma (56-4) is the unanimous No. 1 in the final USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Coaches Poll. The Sooners spent the last 13 weeks in the top spot and secured the programs fifth National Championship last week winning the WCWS.
Rank | School | Points | Record | Last Week |
1 | Oklahoma (32) | 800 | 56-4 | 1 |
2 | Florida State | 764 | 49-13-1 | 8 |
3 | Alabama | 731 | 52-9 | 3 |
4 | JMU | 688 | 41-4 | 22 |
5 | UCLA | 683 | 47-7 | 2 |
6 | Oklahoma State | 636 | 48-12 | 7 |
7 | Arizona | 617 | 41-15 | 9 |
8 | Georgia | 546 | 34-23 | RV |
9 | Florida | 509 | 45-11 | 4 |
10 | Washington | 489 | 45-14 | 6 |
11 | Arkansas | 475 | 43-11 | 5 |
12 | Texas | 438 | 43-14 | 11 |
13 | Missouri | 398 | 42-17 | 14 |
14 | Virginia Tech | 370 | 37-15 | 21 |
15 | LSU | 346 | 35-22 | 16 |
16 | Kentucky | 306 | 43-16 | 19 |
17 | Oregon | 301 | 40-17 | 10 |
18 | Clemson | 225 | 44-8 | 13 |
19 | Michigan | 194 | 38-8 | 20 |
20 | Duke | 177 | 44-12 | 17 |
21 | Arizona State | 159 | 33-16 | 12 |
22 | Louisiana | 146 | 47-12 | 15 |
23 | Tennessee | 113 | 42-15 | 18 |
24 | Wichita State | 91 | 41-13-1 | 23 |
25 | Liberty | 57 | 44-15 | 25 |
New to Poll: No. 8 Georgia
Dropped Out: No. 24 Minnesota
Receiving Votes: Minnesota (37), UCF (28), Fresno State (18), Notre Dame (15), Ole Miss (14), USF (10), Auburn (5), Iowa State (5), Mississippi State (3), Miami (Ohio) (2), Stanford (2), Texas A&M (2).
The Odicci Continues
The Ballad of Odicci Alexander continues… The James Madison Duke that grabbed the nations attention and quickly became a WCWS Legend with her story of grit and passion, is now turning her attention to the professional ranks. The USSSA Pride announced on Monday that the team had signed the former JMU Ace. Alexander finished her career with 81 wins, racking up 712 strikeouts in 640 innings of work. She threw 1057 pitches in 2021 WCWS, pitching JMU into the final four. Also an offense threat at the plate, Alexander will make her debut for the Pride in home series vs. Team Mexico in Viera, Florida beginning today.
Steiner-Wilcoxson Departs FIU
RTS has received word Chris Steiner-Wilcoxson has moved on from Florida International. While no further details have come available at this time on the exact reasons for the departure, the coaching staff and directory page section on FIU’s Athletic Website has been completely cleared and replaced with “TBA”. It is a distinct possibility the Alabama Native could be filling one of the positions currently open further north in her home region. Steiner-Wilcoxson spent two seasons as head coach of the Panthers compiling a 22-35 record.
Montevallo Names Wade Head Coach
University of Montevallo has named Beth Wade their new head coach. Wade spent the past two seasons as an assistant coach at the College of Charleston. Before her stint with the Cougars she served five years as the head coach at Gulf Coast State College in Florida where she posted a record of 167-95.
June 13 is World Softball Day
Today the planet celebrates World Softball Day.
Every June 13 since its inception in 2005, World Softball Day was established to celebrate the sport of softball, which is played by approximately 30 million people around the world.
Players, leagues, national federations, fans and officials can join this yearly celebration sharing their softball message and photos on social media along with the hashtag, #WorldSoftballDay.
The creation of World Softball Day was inspired by the June 13, 1991 announcement by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) that women’s softball for the first time, would be included on the Olympic programme starting with the Atlanta 1996 Games.
Mars Hill Promotes Long To Head Coach
Scott Long has been promoted to head coach at Mars Hill University. Long has been on staff as an assistant coach with the Mountain Lions for the past two seasons. He takes over for Christine Roser who stepped down to return to Queens University as associate head coach. Long served as head coach at Salem College from 2010-2018, amassing a 141-127-2 record.