Rounding Third Softball

Florida International has named Mike Larabee their new head coach. Larabee spent the past two seasons on the coaching staff at Maryland. He joined the Terrapins after four seasons as head coach at Central Washington. Prior to his time in the Pacific Northwest, Larabee spent six seasons in the SEC leading the program at Arkansas.

West Alabama has named Stephanie DeFeo their new head coach. DeFeo spent the past eight seasons leading the program at Mercer. She was the winningest coach in program history with a 217-195 record and was the only coach to win 200 games for the Bears.

After naming an assistant baseball coach with no prior experience to lead their softball program in the interim, SIU-Ewardsville seems to be less than forthcoming to share the list of head coaching applicants for the position. After RTS made an FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) request to SIUE for the list of candidates, that request made under federal and state statues and guidelines has now been denied (after first being delayed under statutes 5 ILCS 140/ 5 (e) (v) of the FOIA) by the public institute. The applicant pool referenced publicly by Director of Athletics Tim Hall as not as “strong” as he would have liked, prompted him to name SIUE assistant baseball coach P.J. Finnegan to the interim position. SIUE’s refusal to share the list of applicants would indicate this move being more about the lack of due-diligence after the fact by their Athletic Administration, rather than a lack of qualified and suitable candidates for the position. RTS has been made aware through multiple sources that the applicant pool was made up of former and current head coaches from all levels and current assistant coaches. Some of those assistant coaches had worked at opposing programs within the same conference (OVC) as SIUE.

After the departure of longtime Coach Belinda Hendrix to East Tennessee State, RTS has confirmed that assistant Kelly Brookins will be named the new head coach at Chipola College. A program alum, Brookins has served as an assistant coach for the Lady Indians the past 10 seasons.

Chipola College Coach Belinda Hendrix has accepted the head coaching position at East Tennessee State. Hendrix spent 18 seasons at the junior college powerhouse. She lead the Lady Indians to three National Championships in 2007, 2015, and 2019 and runner-up finishes twice in 2016 and 2018.

Anthony Aresco has been named to the coaching staff at Lamar. He will direct the pitching and catching staff for the Cardinals. A decorated men’s softball player, Aresco spent the the past two seasons on staff at UNC-Charlotte. Prior to his time with the 49ers he was a graduate assistant at Ole Miss after spending four seasons as a manger with the Oregon program.

Kristen Hawkins has joined the coaching staff at New Mexico. Hawkins spent the last two seasons as an assistant at DII Alderson Broaddus. The former Virginia standout has also had coaching stops at Midwestern State and Western Illinois.

Utah Valley has named Cody Thomson their new head coach. Thomson has worked on the coaching staff at Utah since 2005. He also had an accomplished 14-year playing career in fastpitch as a pitcher including a stint as a member of the USA Men’s National Team. Thomson started his coaching career at Southern Utah in the 1998 season.

RTS has learned that Mario Hernandez will join the coaching staff at Tennessee Tech. Hernandez spent the 2021 season as the top assistant and hitting coach at Valparaiso. Before landing with the Crusaders he coached the 2020 season in the Sunshine State with Jacksonville. Hernandez spent six years (2014-2019) with the Illinois Hawks club organization serving as head coach of the 18U group, eventually ascending to the position of President of Softball for the organization before entering the collegiate level.

Whitney Patterson has been named interim head softball coach at Centenary College in Louisiana. She replaces Mark Suire who recently left the program to become the head coach at Hendrix College. Patterson has been on staff as an assistant coach for the last seven seasons. The promotion by the Centenary Administration to “interim” is a bit head-scratching considering her longevity with the program. Patterson not being elevated to the permanent role could hurt the stability of the program particularly in the realm of recruiting.