Rounding Third Softball

Louisiana Tech interim head coach Bianca Duran has rounded out her coaching staff adding Megan Johnson as an assistant coach. Johnson joins the Lady Techsters from Glenbrook High School in Minden, Louisiana where she coached the last three years. She also had stops on staffs at UT-Tyler, Otero Junior College, Cushing High School, Arline High School, Evangel Christian Academy.

Charleston Southern wasted little time filing their open head coaching position. Just a week after former coach Venus Taylor departed the program for a similar position at North Central College, the Buccaneers have named journeyman DI assistant coach Christi Musser to lead their program. Musser most recently was associate head coach at Grand Canyon serving on staff with the program from 2015 to 2020. She also has made stops on staff at New Mexico and Kansas.

It’s been a busy 24 hours for conference realignment, and the woes for the Southland Conference continue as a focal point in these moves. After losing four member institutes from the State of Texas to the newly revamped Western Athletic Conference, it now looks as if the Southland will lose its only member from the State of Arkansas. Central Arkansas is poised to make their move to the Atlantic Sun Conference starting July 1. The Bears departure will now leave the Southland Conference with seven softball playing members down from 12 just 24 hours ago.

In a move that had been expected for some time now, the Western Athletic Conference made a huge step in conference expansion today. In the move to increase its membership the WAC also grabbed five new softball playing members. Abilene Christian, Sam Houston State, Lamar, Stephen F. Austin, and Southern Utah now join the revamped conference. The addition of the four Texas institutes that are members of the Southland Conference makes the biggest impact dropping that league from 12 softball playing members to eight. Southern Utah is a member of the Big Sky Conference, but their departure might have the most important long-term affect dropping its softball playing membership from seven to six which is the minimum number for the league to keep ahold of its automatic qualifier status to the NCAA Postseason.

Ouachita Baptist has stuck close to home naming local high school and club coach Derrick Grimes their new head coach. Grimes, a former North Little Rock firefighter, has spent the last 24 years as head coach of Cole Minnows Softball and in private instruction. He replaces Leslie Dean who resigned in December due to health reasons.

Lee Chong-hoon has been elected president of the Korea Baseball Softball Association. CEO of DYC, a company that produces automotive parts, Chong-hoon was vice president of the federation to previous KBSA President Kim Eung-yong.

San Jose State has hired James Davenport as their new hitting coach. He joins the Spartans after spending the pandemic shortened 2020 season at Texas Tech. A former collegiate baseball player and minor leaguer with the Seattle Mariners, Davenport also had coaching stops as a volunteer assistant with the San Francisco Giants and Cal State Northridge Softball program.

RTS is saddened to report the passing of nationally known softball scout Robby Wilson earlier this morning. Wilson served as the National Scouting Director for Softball for National Scouting Report (NSR). He was also an accomplished club coach helping train and place numerous prospective student-athletes at the collegiate level throughout the country. Wilson had been hospitalized due to complications of COVID-19.

RTS has learned Steve Harrington has stepped down as head coach at the University of Antelope Valley. Harrington spent two seasons with the Pioneers going 36-38. UAV, an NAIA member of the California Pacific Conference, has currently suspended its athletics program due to the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Neetal Narang has been elected President of Softball India. She becomes the first woman to lead the national governing body. Narang the previous vice president of the federation, succeeds Rana Gurmit Singh Sodhi who was elected as the organizations life-time president.