Softball Staff Earn National Award

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The NFCA announced the recipients of the NJCAA National Coaching Staff of the Year awards on Thursday, July 5. The Co-Lin Softball staff were named the NJCAA DII National Coaching Staff of the Year after winning the school's second national championship in the last three seasons.

Head coach Meleah Howard along with assistant coaches Amber Beall and Terry Bauer guided the team led the Lady Wolves to a 48-6 overall record and a record-breaking 27-1 in MACCC play as they secured the first back-to-back conference titles in program history. The Lady Wolves featured an offense that led the MACCC in batting average at .364 and was second in on-base percentage (.430), slugging percentage (.579), RBIs (377), and hits (545). The offense was also second in doubles and home runs at 112 and 60 respectively and fourth in triples and stolen bases at 15 and 116 respectively. Paired with that offense was a pitching staff that led the MACCC in era at 1.72 and the team had the second-best fielding percentage at .966. At the NJCAA DII National Tournament, the Lady Wolves went 5-1 with an undefeated run to the championship day. After a loss in the first game, the team bounced back in the if necessary game with a 6-4 to win the national championship.

This award adds to the coaching honors that Howard has collected this season including MACCC Coach of the Year, Gulf District A Coach of the Year, and the Coach of the Tournament at the NJCAA DII National Tournament. Through the national championship run, the Lady Wolves finished an outstanding 32-3 against MACCC opponents. Howard earned her 250th win at Co-Lin this season with the Lady Wolves 10-2 win against Hinds on April 23 and now has a career 261-62 for a career winning percentage of 80.8 percent in her seven seasons at Co-Lin. Including her high school coaching career, she has a 789-206 record for a career winning percentage of 79.2 percent. Amber Beall just completed her fifth season as assistant coach while Terry Bauer just completed his first season with the Lady Wolves.

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