Rounding Third Softball

Veteran collegiate stalwart Jim Beitia has joined the staff at South Florida as Director of Operations. Beitia most recently was head coach at Eastern Florida State from 2017-2021. He served on staffs at both Auburn and Arizona State through those program’s multiple WCWS runs. Beitia also was the head coach at Oklahoma, departing the Sooners to established the program at Tennessee in 1995 as its first head coach. He also guided teams internationally and professionally during his long coaching career.

New Mexico Highlands has announced that the institute and head coach Kevin Jannusch have parted ways. Jannusch had been with the DII program two seasons where he compiled a 16-76 record.

Caroline Hill has been named the new head coach at Limestone University. The Saints alum spent the past three seasons leading the program at Spartanburg Methodist College where she compiled a 49-55 record. She replaces former head coach Amy Yates who retired in September.

RTS has learned that former Tennessee and Florida State pitching standout Caylan Arnold has been appointed interim head coach at Maryville College. She replaces former head coach Leah Kelley who resigned in September. Arnold, the Maryville Native, spent three seasons in the circle for the Lady Vols before transferring for her final two years (COVID year included) with the Seminoles. The former All-SEC and All-ACC hurler helped lead FSU to a WCWS Runner-up finish in 2021. Arnold has also played on the professional level with Athletes Unlimited.

In a most interesting hire, Cal State Bakersfield tabbed their Sports Information Director Dan Sperl as their new head coach. After a national search that started back after the dismissal of former head coach Crissy Buck-Ziegler in May, it only took five months to walk down the hall of the CSU Bakersfield Athletic Department to hire their new leader. Sperl last coached in 2015 as an assistant and recruiting coordinator at Jacksonville. He also had coaching stops at George Washington and Western Washington. He joined the sports information staff at CSUB in 2019.

The Smash It Sports Vipers have traded Jocelyn Alo to the OKC Spark. The announcement by Women’s Professional Fastpitch (WPF) brings Alo back to the state where she was a record-breaking star in college at Oklahoma. She made her professional debut last season hitting .373, with three home runs, a .427 on base percentage and .608 slugging percentage. The Vipers will receive draft picks and cash considerations in the trade.

Defending National Champion Oklahoma City has been chosen No. 1 in the 2023 NAIA Preseason Coaches Top 25 Poll. The Stars won their 11th NAIA National Championship in 2022 finishing with an impressive 56-4 record.

RANK	LAST WEEK	SCHOOL [1st Place Votes]	RECORD	FINAL POINTS
1	1	Oklahoma City [18]	54-6	498
2	2	Mobile (Ala.)	52-4	482
3	3	Science & Arts (Okla.)	53-10	464
4	4	Southeastern (Fla.)	52-13	442
5	5	Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.)	54-6	430
6	6	Indiana Wesleyan	54-10	424
7	7	Oregon Tech	50-13	410
8	13	Central Methodist (Mo.)	42-7	372
9	9	Tennessee Wesleyan	37-9	357
10	12	Southern Oregon	49-14	355
11	8	Grand View (Iowa)	46-12	334
12	11	William Carey (Miss.)	48-11	331
13	22	College of Idaho	43-17	285
14	17	Georgia Gwinnett	36-20	276
15	15	Our Lady of the Lake (Texas)	46-13	257
16	16	Columbia (Mo.)	35-12	244
17	19	Marian (Ind.)	40-13	225
18	20	Coastal Georgia	39-14	219
19	14	Eastern Oregon	43-17	218
20	25	Campbellsville (Ky.)	38-18	208
21	23	William Jessup (Calif.)	39-15	151
22	RV	Midland (Neb.)	38-12	131
23	10	Webber International (Fla.)	42-24	120
24	NR	Cumberlands (Ky.)	35-16	119
25	21	Saint Xavier (Ill.)	39-8	94

Dropped from the Top 25: Madonna (Mich.), Lindsey Wilson (Ky.)

Others Receiving Votes: Ottawa (Kan.) 79, Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) 67, Texas A&M Texarkana 64, Lindsey Wilson (Ky.) 64, Bellevue (Neb.) 56, Cottey (Mo.) 35, Aquinas (Mich.) 31, St. Mary of the Woods (Ind.) 22, Mount Mercy (Iowa) 14, Mount Vernon Nazarene (Ohio) 10, Vanguard (Calif.) 8, Friends (Kan.) 4, Oklahoma Panhandle State 3, Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) 3, Rio Grande (Ohio) 3.

Former University of South Carolina Head Coach Joyce Compton was inducted into the school’s Athletics Hall of Fame last night in a ceremony held in Columbia. Compton retired as coach of the Gamecocks in 2010 after 24 years on the bench amassing 951 victories. Her overall career coaching record is 1,066-563-4. Compton led South Carolina to the NCAA Tournament 13 times during her tenure, including two trips to the Women’s College World Series.

The NCAA Division I Council is considering re-classifying volunteer assistant coach positions for both softball and baseball into paid, full-time roles. The move brought by the NCAA Rules Modernization Committee earlier today initially prioritized lifting the pay restrictions on football graduate assistants. Currently NCAA Softball allows for two full-time paid assistant coaches along with a volunteer position (a total of four on-field coaches counting the head coach).

The move has long been pushed by Softball Politico as a way to supply more opportunities in the coaching profession. Concerns within the profession however have been young coaches immediately being placed in full-time positions with little experience, and the struggle to fill current allotted positions with qualified individuals. Other concerns have been institutes that don’t fund second positions currently (or even first positions well enough), creating a “rich get richer” situation and further increasing the Grand Canyon divide between Softball’s Haves and Have Nots.

Olympia Haarlem won the Dutch National Softball Championship defeating the Tex Town Tigers in the series final last weekend. Olympia Haarlem and Tex Town would go the full five games in the championship series. Olympia won the first two games of the series 5-1 and 9-2. Tex Town would battle back winning games three and four 6-5 and 4-2 to force a deciding game five. Olympia Haarlem would secure their second Dutch Championship in as many years winning the final game 3-2. Olympia Haarlem’s Marielle Vleugels was named the Finals MVP.