Rounding Third Softball

RTS will be returning to Blacksburg, VA for the NCAA Super Regional Round. No. 3 ranked and overall national seed Virginia Tech will welcome No. 12 ranked and 14 overall national seed Florida to Tech Softball Park. Coverage will start Thursday at each team’s pre-regional practice and press conference. Game 1 of the Super Regional between the Hokies and Gators will be Friday starting at 2 pm. Check-in on all RTS Social Media platforms for real-time updates from throughout the weekend from the Blacksburg Super Regional.

The National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) has announced their Division III All-American teams for 2022. 54 student-athletes from 36 different programs were selected to the first, second, and third teams. Eastern Connecticut State led the selections with four players. A complete list of the 2022 DIII All-Americans can be found at https://nfca.org/category/ncaa-iii?awarddivision=ncaa-iii…

Just days after leading her squad to the NCAA Postseason at the Clemson Regional, head coach Kristy Norton has stepped down at UNC-Wilmington to “pursue other interests”. Norton spent 10 seasons leading the Seahawks compiling a 217-250-1 record. During that time she led her team to one CAA Tournament Championship and one NCAA postseason that came in 2022. It remains to be seen if those “other interests” could lie inside coaching at one of the other current open positions, or out of it.

Averett has named Carol Oberhelman their new head coach. Oberhelman takes leadership of the Cougars after spending two seasons as an assistant coach at Muskingum. She helped the program to a 60-26 overall record during her time on staff.

College of San Mateo has been named the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Cal JC National Coaching Staff of the Year. The Bulldogs recently won the California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA) championship with an 8-1 victory over Sierra College. San Mateo finished the 2022 season 44-4 under head coach Nicole Quigley-Borg. She is assisted by Dale Bassmann, Toby Garza, Matt Lawrence, Lauren Quirke, Allie Stines and Randy Villazon.

Cal State-Bakersfield will not renew the contract of head coach Crissy Buck-Ziegler. Buck-Ziegler led the Roadrunners for 11 seasons. She compiled a record of 122-325-1, while winning one WAC Tournament Championship and making an NCAA Postseason appearance in 2016.

Ben Carcia is retiring as head coach at Northern Colorado. He led the Bears for four seasons compiling a 59-111 record. Garcia spent four seasons with Colorado Mesa before coming to UNC, having a very successful run winning three RMAC championships and making three NCAA Postseason appearances.

Hall of Fame Coach Jo Evans is out at Texas A&M. Director of Athletics Ross Bjork announced Monday that the longtime Aggie Coach’s contract would not be renewed. Evans coached A&M for 26 seasons compiling a 987-503-2 record. She collected her 1300th career coaching win at the Norman Regional last weekend. Evans coached the Aggies to the NCAA postseason 22 times. The Aggies had trips to the Women’s College World Series three times (2007, 2008, 2017) and made seven trips to the NCAA Super Regionals.

Jay Johnson has been named the new head coach at Carolina University. Johnson returns to collegiate coaching after working on the high school level the last several years. He also has collegiate experience at Montreat, Grace, and Elon.

Brittany Bennett has resigned as head coach at UNC Pembroke. Her nine season run ends being the program’s all-time winningest coach with 216 victories. Assistant Stephanie Graziani will serve as interim head coach while a national search is conducted.