Rounding Third Softball

Division I Opening Weekend is upon us and RTS will kick off it’s 2021 coverage tomorrow in Atlanta at the Buzz Classic. We will be on-site as Georgia Tech hosts Boise State, Radford, and Georgia State through the weekend. We will have live in game coverage on Twitter. Follow RTS @Rounding3rdSB.

Miami University Hamilton found out yesterday that they would be joining a growing list of softball programs canceling their 2021 season due to “safety” concerns of student-athletes due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. What’s puzzling however is while the Miami-Hamilton program seems to be shutdown, the same safety concerns don’t seem to be an issue at Miami University’s main campus in Oxford. The Flagship’s Division I Softball Squad opens their season this Saturday on the road in Starkville, Mississippi. University and Athletic Administrators either are oblivious on how to make one department and their COVID protocols/testing work while another does, or it is simply economics/want-to that has shut the softball program down at Miami-Hamilton for the 2021 season. While the small independent athletic department at Hamilton doesn’t hold the clout the large DI Department in Oxford does; can treatment of the athletes be dwindled down to simply the haves and have nots during this challenging time for athletics in general? Is safety of student-athletes at one campus so much more important than those at another in the same university system? Probably not. But it is more likely that financially one set of student-athletes are more important than another set.

Former US National Team member Megan Kleist has joined the coaching staff at NAIA Bushnell University in Oregon. The two-time All-American and 2018 Pac-12 Pitcher of the Year spent three seasons at Oregon before finishing her last year of eligibility at Louisiana in the shortened 2020 season.

RTS is saddened to share the passing of Vern Stephens. One of the most well liked individuals and personalities in all of softball, Stephens was a club coach and recruiting specialist with the Lil’ Rebels Organization that helped train and place a plethora of Prospective Student-Athletes at collegiate programs throughout the country. The Las Vegas Native had a short but hard fought battle with cancer that was diagnosed early last fall.

Cal State Northridge has rounded out their coaching staff adding Greg Bergeron as an assistant coach. Bergeron has over 20 years experience in collegiate baseball as he makes his first incursion into the sport of softball. He has worked on staffs at Washington State, Long Beach State, UC Irvine, Cal State Fullerton, and Tennessee among the stops during his career.

Rounding Third Softball is pleased to announce the staff addition of longtime softball coach/instructor, philanthropist, and entrepreneur Kris Caldwell. Caldwell will join the RTS Staff as a correspondent, content contributor, and will also bring her “Legends of the Game” Podcast where she features interviews with the top names in the sport to the RTS platform.

RTS is saddened to report the passing of University of Mobile Softball Athlete Amberly Montgomery. Local news reports that Montgomery was involved in a fatal car accident Sunday morning. A junior outfielder from Satsuma, Alabama, she had appeared in two of three games played by the Rams to start their 2021 season. “Amberly was a great teammate and so much fun to coach. No matter the role she faced, she did it so well at 100% effort. She is going to be missed so much.” Mobile Head Coach Allison Sellers-Cook commented.

Purdue Fort Wayne completed their coaching staff for the 2021 season adding both assistant coach Heather Sanderson and graduate assistant coach Katey Hendershott. Sanderson joins the Mastodons after serving on the coaching staff at Alverno College, while Hendershott comes to PFW after finishing her playing time at Michigan State.

Former Fordham standout catcher Ally Vergona has joined the coaching staff at Fairleigh Dickinson. The appointment is the first for Vergona as a collegiate coach. She most recently coached the NJ Heist Gold club team and has assisted at both Emerson and Paramus Catholic High Schools.

Indiana State has named Nicole Fougerousse the programs new pitching coach. Fougerousse’s last collegiate position was on staff with Tennessee State in 2016. She has most recently been owner and operator of her own indoor training facility in Linton, Indiana.