Rounding Third Softball

McPherson College Head Coach Tony Segovia will retire at the conclusion of the 2022 season. Segovia has led the Bulldogs for the past three seasons going 73-39 overall. The McPherson graduate served 14 seasons coaching the program at Friends University compiling a 454-212 record before returning to his alma mater.

Brian Bessette has been named interim head coach at Carroll College. Bessette comes to the Saints after coaching the last two decades on the high school and club levels. He coached both Sentinel and Loyola Sacred Heart, winning 100 games at Sentinel while leading them to four Western AA conference championships in six seasons. Bessette replaces former coach Aaron Jackson who recently left to join the coaching staff at Iowa State.

After RTS first broke the news yesterday of the formation of a new professional softball league, USSSA, USA Softball, and Smash It Sports made it official this morning announcing the launch of Women’s Professional Fastpitch (WPF). The league will be headquartered out of Oklahoma City, with teams playing nation wide. WPF’s first move was an interesting one naming former professional player and Oklahoma Sooner great Lauren Chamberlain the leagues first commissioner. Play for season one of the WPF is slated to begin in June 2022.

RTS has received confirmation through sources that USSSA will announce in the next 24 hours it’s intentions to launch a new professional softball league. Word started to circulate in the last 48 hours of the impending move, and those intentions became further evident with a conference call to USSSA Pride players on Tuesday. While complete details have not been brought to light as of yet, sources have indicated that both Smash It Sports and USA Softball could also be involved with the venture. The USSSA Pride has played as an independent professional team since they ended their relationship with National Pro Fastpitch back in 2019. The NPF announced they were ceasing operation earlier this summer.

Hampton has appointed Monique White their new head coach. White joins the Pirates after three seasons as an assistant coach at Georgetown. Before joining the Hoyas she served on the coaching staff at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in a Daytona Beach from 2014-18.

Thomas University has promoted assistant Jessica Sanders to head coach. She replaces longtime Coach Bill Wilson who announced his retirement earlier this month. Sanders has worked on the coaching staff at TU the past eight seasons after coming from the staff at Shorter University, where she was also a Hall of Fame Player for the Hawks.

Texas A&M-Commerce has accepted an invitation from the Southland Conference and will join the ranks of Division I. The Lions will officially join the Southland on July 1, 2022, and begin a four-year transition into DI at the same time. A&M-Commerce has been a powerhouse in Division II, including the softball program that were NCAA South Central Regional Champions in 2018 and Regional Finalist in 2019 and 2021.

James Madison associate head coach Jennifer Herzig has been named Division I Assistant Coach of the Year. The award, given annually by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA), goes to the top coaching staff assistant in all of DI. Herzig has been integral to the Dukes success since joining the staff in 2012. Her work paid off huge in 2021 as JMU made one of the greatest runs in NCAA history. The Dukes would finish 41-4 making the program’s first appearance at the Women’s College World Series, while upsetting No. 1 ranked and eventual National Champion Oklahoma in their first game.

Biola has named alumna Kristin Halte their new head coach. Halte takes over for former coach Nikki Udria who departed BU to join the coaching staff at Oregon. She has served as pitching coach for Biola in parts of nine seasons under former coaches Lorie Coleman and Udria. Halte also served a stint as the head coach at Valencia High School in Placentia, California. She now guides an Eagle program that finished as national runner-up in Division II in 2021.

The Southeastern Conference released its 2022 softball schedule today. Conference play will begin on March 11 and run through May 8. The schedule includes eight three-game series for each team totaling 24 conference games. The SEC Tournament is scheduled for May 10-14 at the Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium in Gainesville, FL. The full SEC schedule can be found at https://www.secsports.com/…/2022-sec-softball-schedule…#Rounding3rdSB