Rounding Third Softball

North Alabama has extended the contract of head coach Ashley Cozart. The four-year extension runs through the 2026 season. In her ninth season at UNA, Cozart is 297-117 overall, including a 22-7 record this season.

Itawamba Community College Coach Andy Kirk will retire at the end of the 2022 season. Kirk has led the Indians since 2011 and compiled a record of 358-121. His teams have finished in the top 10 rankings five of the last six seasons. Itawamba’s team is 20-2 and currently ranked fourth nationally in NJCAA DII. Prior to his time at ICC he coached on the high school level for 13 years.

Oregon Tech has held tight to the top spot in the latest NAIA Softball Coaches Top 25 Poll. The Owls garnered 15 of the 19 first-place votes. No. 2 Oklahoma City stayed in that second spot receiving three votes, while No. 6 Mobile received one vote.

RANK	LAST WEEK	SCHOOL [1st Place Votes]	RECORD	FINAL POINTS
1	1	Oregon Tech [15]	26-4	526
2	2	Oklahoma City [3]	20-1	512
3	4	Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.)	23-1	479
4	4	Science & Arts (Okla.)	19-4	464
5	3	College of Idaho	22-6	462
6	8	Mobile (Ala.) [1]	26-0	460
7	7	William Carey (Miss.)	26-3	427
8	6	Southern Oregon	20-6	415
9	8	Indiana Wesleyan	18-4	395
10	10	Coastal Georgia	20-1	380
11	11	Central Methodist (Mo.)	13-4	355
12	13	Lindsey Wilson (Ky.)	19-5	332
13	12	Grand View (Iowa)	15-3	325
14	15	Texas A&M Texarkana	19-5	297
15	14	Georgia Gwinnett	24-12	293
16	16	Marian (Ind.)	11-2	284
17	17	Cumberlands (Ky.)	19-10	244
18	RV	Aquinas (Mich.)	20-4	231
19	21	Southeastern (Fla.)	19-4	229
20	18	Madonna (Mich.)	8-1	197
21	24	Columbia (Mo.)	10-8	142
22	23	Ottawa (Kan.)	12-7-1	139
23	RV	William Jessup (Calif.)	18-10	134
24	25	Morningside (Iowa)	12-6	125
25	RV	Saint Xavier (Ill.)	11-5	117

Dropped from the Top 25: Vanguard (Calif.), Olivet Nazarene (Ill.), Milligan (Tenn.)

Others Receiving Votes: Vanguard (Calif.) 99, Northwestern (Iowa) 66, Brenau (Ga.) 62, Houston-Victoria (Texas) 57, Texas Wesleyan 42, Mount Vernon Nazarene (Ohio) 28, Eastern Oregon 28, Rio Grande (Ohio) 23, Webber International (Fla.) 13, Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) 10, Oklahoma Panhandle State 8, Our Lady of the Lake (Texas) 6, MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) 6, Faulkner (Ala.) 4, Midland (Neb.) 3, Tennessee Wesleyan 3.

There is a new No. 1 in this week’s NFCA Division III Top 25 Coaches Poll. Christopher Newport (21-0) has taken over the top spot. The undefeated Captains are unanimous garnering all 10 first-place votes.

Rank	Team	Points	2022 Record	Previous
1	Christopher Newport (10)	250	21-0	4
2	Salisbury	240	20-2	2
3	Virginia Wesleyan	230	17-3	3
4	Belhaven	220	18-2	5
5	Texas Lutheran	210	20-4	1
6	East Texas Baptist	200	18-5	7
7	Birmingham-Southern	190	17-4	8
8	Linfield	180	19-3	6
9	Eastern Connecticut State	170	12-2	9
10	Tufts	160	4-2	10
11	Randolph-Macon	150	14-1	12
12	DePauw	140	9-5	11
13	Roanoke	130	14-6	13
14	Berry	120	15-7	15
15	Moravian	110	12-0	16
16	Concordia (Wis.)	100	12-1	T22
17	Milwaukee School of Engineering	90	5-1	17
18	Wisconsin-Oshkosh	80	7-3	18
19	Chapman	70	17-2	20
20	Rowan	60	11-5	19
21	Mount St. Joseph	50	11-4	21
22	Wartburg	40	13-5	NR
23	Saint Benedict (Minn.)	30	12-2	T22
24	Millikin	20	16-2	25
T25	Loras	5	13-1	NR
T25	Mary Hardin-Baylor	5	17-5	NR

Others receiving votes:  None.

Dropped out: Muskingum and The College of New Jersey.

The top two spots in this week’s NFCA Division II Top 25 Coaches Poll remained unchanged. UT Tyler (25-1) sits at No. 1, while Concordia Irvine (24-0) comes in at No. 2. Strangely enough CUI keeps losing first-place votes to UTT each week even though they remain undefeated. The Patriots garnered 13 of those votes while the Eagles got three.

Rank	School	Points	2022 Record	Prev. Ranking
1	UT Tyler (13)	397	25-1	1
2	Concordia Irvine (3)	387	24-0	2
3	Valdosta State	367	19-4	3
4	Rogers State	344	20-2	5
5	Indianapolis	341	20-2	4
6	West Texas A&M	322	18-7	6
7	Grand Valley State	298	14-1	7
8	Augustana	272	16-5	10
9	Tampa	267	20-8	13
10	Lubbock Christian	260	25-3	14
11	West Florida	218	18-4	12
12	North Georgia	207	23-8	15
13	Angelo State	200	23-5	17
14	Cal State San Marcos	175	27-3	25
15	Texas A&M-Kingsville	166	24-5	9
16	Minnesota State	153	15-6	21
17	Auburn Montgomery	150	19-6	16
18	Carson-Newman	136	24-4	18
19	Central Oklahoma	134	25-5	8
20	Lincoln Memorial	93	21-7	19
21	Texas A&M-Commerce	84	26-6	20
22	Chico State	72	22-8	11
23	Oklahoma Christian	36	19-8	RV
24	Anderson	35	22-3	22
25	Embry-Riddle	27	13-7	NR

New to Poll: No. 23 Oklahoma Christian, No. 25 Embry-Riddle

Dropped Out:  No. 23 St. Mary’s, No. 24 UAH

Receiving Votes: Seton Hill (19), Harding (12), UAH (12), St. Mary’s (10), Kutztown (4), Georgian Court (1). 

The stranglehold on the No. 1 spot in this week’s USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Coaches Poll continues for undefeated Oklahoma (25-0). The Sooners were once again unanimous in the top spot garnering all 32 first-place votes. The Top 5 remained mostly unchanged with Florida State (27-2), UCLA (24-3), and Alabama (24-4) coming in at No. 2, 3, and 4. Virginia Tech (21-3) jumps into the fray at No. 5.

Rank	School (First Place Votes)	Points	2022 Record	Prev. Ranking
1	Oklahoma (32)	800	25-0	1
2	Florida State	749	27-2	2
3	UCLA	742	24-3	4
4	Alabama	689	24-4	3
5	Virginia Tech	677	21-3	6
6	Florida	660	25-3	5
7	Oklahoma State	525	21-6	10
8	Kentucky	522	20-5	8
9	Washington	504	20-7	7
10	Arkansas	486	19-5	12
11	Northwestern	477	19-4	14
12	Oregon	462	21-4	11
13	Duke	459	23-4	13
14	Arizona	443	19-6	9
15	Tennessee	340	20-8	15
16	Clemson	304	19-8	17
17	Georgia	288	26-4	16
18	Auburn	255	25-2	19
19	Michigan	221	17-6	21
20	Arizona State	202	22-5	22
21	Missouri	166	19-8	18
22	LSU	104	20-10	20
23	UCF	93	26-7	24
24	Texas	88	21-9-1	RV
25	Stanford	50	22-6	RV

New to Poll: No. 24 Texas, No. 25 Stanford

Dropped Out: No. 23 Louisiana, No. 25 USF

Receiving Votes: Louisiana (37), Notre Dame (31), USF (9), Ohio State (4), Boise State (3), Western Kentucky (3), Georgia Tech (2), Oregon State (2), USC Upstate (2), California 1.

Undefeated Wallace State-Hanceville (28-0) has claimed the top spot in the latest NJCAA DI Top 20 Poll. The previous No. 2 received all nine first-place votes.

Place	Name	Record	Points	1st Place	Prev.
1	Wallace State Community College-Hanceville	28-0	180	9	2
2	Yavapai College	29-2	171	0	3
3	Florida Southwestern State College	27-4	162	0	1
4	Seminole State College (OK)	15-1	153	0	4
5	Odessa College	22-2	144	0	5
6	Butler Community College – KS	17-1	135	0	6
7	McLennan Community College	28-4	126	0	8
8	Chattanooga State Community College	23-3	117	0	9
9	Pensacola State College	26-4	108	0	12
10	Chipola College	28-4	99	0	7
11	Central Arizona College	26-3	90	0	10
12	Grayson College	19-5	81	0	11
13	Gulf Coast State College	31-7	72	0	16
14	San Jacinto College-South	22-9	63	0	13
15	Three Rivers Community College – MO	13-3	54	0	15
16	Northwest Florida State College	30-7	45	0	17
17	Crowder College	24-4	36	0	14
18	Howard College	15-5	27	0	18
19	College of Southern Idaho	19-6	18	0	N/A
20	Eastern Arizona College	25-5	9	0	20

Receiving Votes: Bossier Parish, Volunteer State, Dyersburg State, Paris, Hutchinson

Maryland Coach Mark Montgomery collected his 600th career coaching victory at home Sunday in a 5-3 win over North Dakota State. Montgomery is in his third season coaching the Terrapins. He has also had coaching stops at Louisiana Tech, Northern Colorado, Centenary (LA), and Georgetown (KY).

The legendary Hall of Fame Coach Joan Joyce has reached another milestone in her storied career. The Florida Atlantic skipper scored her 1,000 career coaching victory on Friday in a 1-0 Conference USA win over North Texas. Joyce is in her 28th season coaching the Owls.

In this edition of On Deck, RTS’s Lee Dobbins sits down with new Mercer University Head Coach Lindsay Fico. The first time Division I Coach took over the Bears last June after spending the previous three seasons on the Junior College level as head coach at Santa Fe College in Florida.  During the 2021 season, Fico led the Saints to a 31-16 record and the school’s 16^th all-time appearance in the FCSAA State Tournament. The former Florida Gator started her coaching path after graduating from UF in 2006 in the private sector giving individual instruction and coaching on the club level.

Lee Dobbins: You have had a meteoric rise in the coaching ranks. Starting in the private sector of the game with instruction and being involved on the club level, to getting your first collegiate job on the JUCO level and now moving right to the Division I. Talk a bit about your journey and how you were able to reach these heights so quickly. 

Lindsay Fico: I have been very blessed to be in the right place at the right time multiple times throughout my coaching career. I do feel like everything has happened very quickly for me and understand it’s not the norm. It’s certainly a blessing that the universe has aligned so nicely, and I am very appreciative of every opportunity to coach the game I love.  

When coaching travel ball started to get a little more serious, I realized just how much I enjoyed the profession, however I couldn’t have imagined it would snowball so quickly. I feel like coaching Florida JUCO ball gave me a leg up when it came to making the jump to the DI level. I learned many tricks of the trade that I wouldn’t have if I was a DI assistant, and I feel like the level of play, especially in the state of FL, is comparable to most mid-major programs in DI softball. I have just focused on trying to make anyone I meet better either athletically, academically, or even socially speaking.  

I measure my success as a coach by focusing the “person” before the “athlete.” If our players are holding themselves to a higher standard on and off the field, success will fall into place. There are several people throughout who have been willing to stick their neck out for me, so I don’t discount that I have had support along the way. I have also been quite lucky to have a staff that fosters the same type of culture that I strive to maintain. 

Dobbins: A lot of times coaches tend to be all-in on JUCO Athletes in that they can help their programs immediately experience wise, or shy away from them due to different stereotyping of those athletes and why they might be on the JUCO level to begin with. Talk a little about your experience with that. Do you plan to recruit the JUCO level at Mercer? 

Fico: I think there is a balance to everything. We have already reaped the benefits of having JUCO products. A lot of times, players end up playing JUCO because timing just wasn’t right for them when they graduated high school, it doesn’t discount their ability to play at a higher level and most go on after their years in the JUCO circuit. 

Dobbins: Recruiting is always evolving and maybe not always for the positive as of late with showcase softball, recruiting services, and the challenges the pandemic have brought. Where do you think recruiting is now compared to say when you competed and started coaching and even when you played? What are the challenges you have seen and maybe the fixes needed to be made? 

Fico: For one thing, social media didn’t exist when I was being recruited. It was so much harder to know if you were getting the right looks from the schools you were interested in, but also less “watered down.” I lean on my relationships with fellow coaches, instructors, and friends within the softball world when it comes to recruiting. I was also in sales for more than 10 years before I coached…that experience helps tremendously when we are looking for athletes to join our program. We want players who know how to compete outside of “showcase ball.” Players who play for something bigger than themselves learn the stresses and success that comes in college. The more they learn that, the better prepared they will be when they find their college home. 

Dobbins: Following up on the recruiting question; Where do you believe the newest innovation of the Transfer Portal fits in college recruiting? Will Mercer take advantage of the portal, or are you staying the course of recruiting high school/club age Prospective Student-Athletes and possibly JUCO Athletes? 

Fico: Again, I think we must find the right balance when it comes to “portal” players vs. the traditional high school recruit. Both can bring a lot of value to a program. If we are using the portal with integrity and doing our due diligence with high school talent, we should be fine. Considering my experience at the JUCO level, we will also take advantage of finding the best players we can in that world. 

Dobbins: College softball tends to be divided in the “haves and have nots”. The gap seems to be particularly wide between the major Division I/Power 5s and everyone else. Talk a little about that from the standpoint of having played at a major program like Florida and having coached at the JUCO level at Santa Fe and now mid-major level at Mercer. Do you see those gaps closing, or just getting wider with innovations like the NIL and the push to treat athletes more like employees than students? 

Fico: I cherished my time at UF, but I also understand that the UF of today is very different from the one I know. I think the gap between the Power 5s and mid-majors will remain somewhat the same. They are just too different not to, but it doesn’t mean a mid-major can’t be extremely competitive because at the end of the day, the culture of a program and respect within a team carries a lot of weight and can achieve huge amounts of success. As for the NIL, athletes are still athletes, not employees. They just want to be “heard” as much as they are “seen.” If the lines of communication stay open and honest, the NIL shouldn’t become an issue, especially in the mid-major DI world. 

Dobbins: Who are some of the peers and mentors that shaped you as an athlete and now on your coaching journey? 

Fico: Coach Walton was and is an integral part of my success. He brought a whole new light and expectation to Florida softball, and I knew from his very first practice, he was going to win…and win big! He has been an both advocate and mentor throughout my entire coaching career. Coach Rocha was also pivotal, and I still feel like she is just a phone call/text away. Her quiet, warm spirit taught me so much about coaching. I feel very blessed to have been shaped by both in their own, specific ways and I am thankful to have the continued relationship with them to this day.  

I loved my time at Santa Fe, and I met so many thoughtful, successful coaches who helped me learn the ropes. Courtney Miller (Seminole State), Jen McKibben (Pensacola), Alissa Smith (formerly St. Johns River) and Patti Townsend (TCC), to name a few, provided constant support and great advice during my 3 years at SF. It would’ve been so much more difficult without them, and I am truly thankful for each and every one of them.