Rounding Third Softball

North Florida has announced Jeff Conrad as their new head coach. Conrad is elevated to the leadership position for the Ospreys after serving on staff at UNF as an assistant and associate head coach the last seven seasons. He assumed the role of interim head coach in June after longtime head coach Marcie Higgs announced her resignation.

Widener has announced the retirement of longtime coach Fred Dohrmann. Dohrmann coached an unheard of 42 seasons with the program, 41 as its head coach. He compiled a record of 697-566 ranking him 22nd all-time in Division III history.

UAB has decided to stay “local” on their next head coach. The Blazers have hired Alabama Native AJ Daugherty as their new leader. Daugherty served as head coach the last six seasons at Wallace State Community College where he compiled a 260-58 record. The Lions won the Alabama Community College Conference Championship four times in 2017, 2018, 2021 and 2022, while also making four appearances in the NJCAA National Tournament.

UCLA will be leaving the Pac-12 for the Big Ten. News broke Thursday that both the Bruins and USC (which doesn’t sponsor softball) could make the move as early as 2024. Sources are reporting that the move will be based on “finances”, but will also address “competitiveness” and “brand”. The move would put the UCLA Softball Squad in a weaker conference, immediately making them the team to beat in the new look Big Ten. It could also signal a possible recruiting shift as the Bruins would now be required to cross the country to play each road game in the cold weather climates the B10 offers.

RTS has learned that Jimmy Kolaitis has agreed to remain on the staff of new Arizona State Head Coach Megan Bartlett. Kolaitis, one of the top recruiters in the country, has worked with the Sun Devils the past two seasons and was a major cog in their 2022 Pac-12 Championship and run to the Super Regional Round. The veteran coach will be key to keeping the current roster and signees in place for ASU moving forward.

RTS has learned that Christine Core has joined the staff at Virginia as Director of Operations. Core spent the last four seasons as head coach at DII Lincoln in Missouri. Prior to her time with the Tigers she led the program at Covenant College.

Sources have confirmed to RTS that Jessica Bracamonte will be named the new head coach at Toledo. Bracamonte served the last three seasons as an assistant coach at Duke. She helped lead the Blue Devils to a 44-11 record in 2022 and a berth in the NCAA Super Regional Round.

Dedeann Pendleton-Helm has been named the new head coach at Northern Colorado. She spent 17 seasons in total as the assistant coach at Colorado State working with the pitching staff. In between tenures with the Rams, Pendleton-Helm worked on the staff at Ole Miss for six seasons. CSU last made the NCAA Postseason in the 2019 campaign when the squad went 39-12.

Jordan Clark has been named the new head coach at Florida Atlantic. Clark spent the past four seasons as an assistant coach at Ohio State. During that time the Buckeyes went 104-63 and advanced twice to the NCAA Postseason. Clark takes over for longtime and legendary Coach Joan Joyce who passed away during the 2022 season.

Texas A&M-Commerce has announced the hiring of Brittany Miller as head coach. Miller joins the Lions after serving the last two seasons as pitching coach at Texas Tech. She will guide TAMUC through their transition into Division I as they join the Southland Conference July 1.