The Coach Roges Show

#147:  Shannon Knapp, President of Invicta Fighting Championships will recieve the Duomachy Trailblazer Award this Saturday, December 6, during the 1 Dream Awards in Las Vegas Nevada.  The award will be presented by UFC Creator and Co-Founder Art Davie.  On December 5, IFC10: Waterson vs. Tiburcio can be seen live on UFC Fight Pass 9ET/6PM.

Shannon Knapp Facebook, Shannon Knapp Twitter, Invicta Facebook, Invicta Twitter

#146: Mike Candrea, Head Coach, Arizona, visits TCRS.  Coach Candrea enters his 30th season as the head coach of the University of Arizona softball team in 2015 and under his guidance reaching the pinnacle should once again underscore a record of success almost unparalleled by any program in any sport at any level.  He is one of the most respected coaches in the nation, with the accomplishments to supplement: eight national titles in 24 seasons, 21 trips to the Women’s College World Series in the last 25 seasons, 1,387 career victories, a mind-boggling career winning percentage of 80%, 52 All-Americans, four national players of the year and stewardship of Team USA to an Olympic gold medal, to name a few.

WCWS Titles: 1991, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 2001, 2006 and 2007.  Following each of the titles in 1994, 1996, 1997 and 2007, Candrea was named the National Fastpitch Coaches Association Division I Coach of the Year.

Candrea has stressed academic success, as well, with K’Lee Arredondo (2010, first team), Autumn Champion (2006, second team), Leah O’Brien (first team, 1994, 1995 and 1997), Jenny Dalton (first team in 1996, second team in 1995) and Nancy Evans (1998) earning Academic All-America honors. 

Coach Candrea Official Site, Coach Candrea Twitter, Wildcats Twitter, Wildcats Facebook

#145: Holly Aprile, Head Coach, Pittsburgh, visits TCRS.  The 2014/2015 season for the Panthers sees the addittion of key transfer Jenna Modic a JR from Miami (OH) who will see both time in the circle and the infield.  Pitt. will also look for a big season from Shelby Pickett a RS JR who missed the 2014 season due to injury after transfering from Ohio State.   The 2013 campaign saw a program first as freshman Tori Nirschl was named the Big East Rookie of the Year. Nirschl is the first ever major award winner for the Pitt softball program, which includes Rookie, Player or Pitcher of the Year. Nirschl garnered third-team all-conference honors as a freshman.  Pitt Softball Twitter, Pitt Facebook.

#144: Trena Peel, Head Coach, UB, visits TCRS.  In her first season with the Bulls, Peel led UB to its first ever outright MAC East Division Title and the softball program was named UB's 2013-14 Team of the Year.  Despite being picked to finish last in the MAC East prior to the season, the Bulls finished the year with a school-record 30 victories and remained over .500 wire-to-wire. The team set offensive single-season records for batting average (.266), hits (367), doubles (71), triples (12), home runs (34), runs scored (236) and runs batted in (208). 

Peel coached three UB players on to the All-MAC First Team following the season, a first for the Bulls.  In the circle, she coached Tori Speckman, who set UB records for single-season and career victories as well as single-season strikeouts with 228.  Speckman also threw two no hitters during the year. The Bulls shattered their single-season record with nine MAC Player of the Week recognitions.

Buffalo Softball Twitter, Buffalo Bulls Facebook.

#143: Yvette Healy, Head Coach, Wisconsin, visits TCRS.  Yvette Healy begins her fifth season as head coach at Wisconsin in 2015, having just led the team to its second consecutive NCAA Regional Championship. Healy directed the team to the NCAA tournament in back-to-back seasons, which had only been done once before by UW in 2001 and 2002.

Over the last four years, the team has posted an impressive 144-75 overall record and 53-35 conference record in the Big Ten under Healy. Her .658 winning percentage ranks highest in school history.

At the end of the 2014 season, the Badgers finished in two final national polls for just the fourth time in the program's 19-year history and the second consecutive year. UW came in at No. 24 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Top 25 and received votes in the USA Today/NFCA Top 25 for the eighth time in the season. Wisconsin finished the 2014 season at No. 32 in the NCAA Softball Ratings Percentage Index (RPI), after facing nine of the 31 teams who posted a higher RPI ranking.  

The 2014 season boasted the second-highest win total (36) in school history. The Badgers defeated six ranked opponents and tied with the 1997 team for the most top-25 wins in a season.

Coach Healy Twitter, UW Softball Twitter, UW Softball Facebook.

#142: Rachel Lawson, Head Coach, Kentucky, visits TCRS.  The 2014/15 UK softball roster will be led by one of the nation's top pitchers Kelsey Nunley and arguably the nation's number one catcher Griffin Joiner.  2014 was a great year in Lexington as UK softball earned the program’s first-ever Women’s College World Series berth, defeated a school record 15 ranked teams during the season and finished the year ranked No. 6 in the final USA Today/NFCA national poll and Coach Lawson and her staff earned honors as the NFCA D-I Coaching Staff of the Year.  Off the field, UK softball saw 12 student-athletes named NFCA All-America Scholar Athletes while 18 earned SEC academic honors.  Coach Lawson Twitter, UK Softball Twitter, UK Softball Facebook.

#141: Shelly Hoerner, Head Coach, Georgia Tech, visits TCRS. In her first season on the Flats, Hoerner led the Yellow Jackets to a 23-24 record and an 11-17 ACC record (8th place). The season's highlights included series sweeps over conference foes Virginia and Maryland and a series victory against North Carolina on senior weekend. The 2014 club also notched a pair of wins over ranked opponents in Tulsa and Notre Dame. 

Under Coach Hoerner's direction, Tech ranked third in the ACC in batting average (.297) and led the ACC in stolen bases per game (1.38). Meanwhile Georgia Tech pitchers lowered the ERA from 5.37 to 4.21 in her first season. Individually, Hoerner coached two All-ACC performers in Maddie Lionberger (1st team) and Ashley Thomas (2nd team).  Coach Hoerner Twitter, Tech Softball Twitter, Tech Softball Facebook.

#140: Mike White, Head Coach, Oregon Softball, visits TCRS. Oregon will enter 2015 the reigning two-time Pac-12 champions. The Ducks, bring back all three pitchers from last season and four regular position players while welcoming six newcomers. In 2015, the Ducks will be led by Janie Takeda and Cheridan Hawkins.  Oregon also secured two huge transfers in Hailey Decker from Nebraska and Geri Ann Glasco from Georgia.  Coach White Twitter, Oregon Softball Twitter, Oregon Softball Facebook.

#139: Lonni Alameda, Head Coach, Florida State Softball, visits TCRS to announce the 2015 Schedule and talk everything FSU Softball.  In six season at FSU, Coach Alameda has led the Seminoles to five ACC Championship game appearances with titles in 2011 and 2014.  FSU posted its best season in a decade with a 55-9 record in 2014 to finish ranked No. 7 in the country by both the NFCA and USA Softball. The Seminoles won 24 ACC games to set a new school and ACC mark for conference wins in a season and also set program records in runs scored (400), home runs (65), extra base hits (168), RBI (363), walks (318) and slugging percentage (.493).  FSU Twitter, FSU Facebook, FSU Instagram.

#138: Carol Hutchins, Head Coach, Michigan Softball, visits TCRS to discuss how the team has done during practices and the first weekend of the fall schedule.  Coach Hutch will also preview the much anticipated games against Kentucky which Michigan will host on October 4th and 5th.  Coach Hutch Twitter Michigan Facebook Michigan Twitter.