(Story courtesy of Texas Lutheran Athletic Communications)
LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- The coaching staff of Texas Lutheran Softball has been named the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) West Region Coaching Staff of the Year.
The Bulldogs' softball coaching staff includes: 10th-year Head Coach Wade Wilson {pictured}, Assistant Coach Olivia Van Hook, Assistant Coach Ed Zarzabal, Pitching Coach James Fuqua, Hitting Coach Scott Smith, Graduate Assistant Coach Shelby Janda, and Graduate Assistant Coach Jordaine Bishop.
This is the second time that a Wade Wilson-led coaching staff has claimed the West Region coaching honor from the NFCA. Wilson and his staff previously won the honor in 2019, when the Bulldogs won the Marshall, Texas Regional, the McMinnville, Ore. Super Regional, and the NCAA Division III National Championship.
The TLU coaching staff was the NFCA National Coaching Staff of the Year for NCAA Division III in 2019.
In 2021, the Bulldogs won their seventh consecutive Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Championship, won the Seguin, Texas Regional, and finished as the national runner-up at the NCAA Division III National Championship Finals.
TLU finished the year ranked second in the final NFCA poll of the 2021 season. The Bulldogs produced an overall record of 36-6 with a conference mark of 18-0.
After 10 seasons with the Bulldogs, Wilson has an overall collegiate coaching record of 337-73 (.822) with a record in conference play of 187-16 (.921).
Wilson has coached the Bulldogs in the American Southwest Conference and in the SCAC. The Bulldogs' record in conference play in the SCAC is 152-3 (.981) in seven-plus seasons. (The 2020 season, in which TLU was 19-1 overall and 5-0 in the SCAC, was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic.)
Seven of the eight teams that advanced to the NCAA Division III Championship in Salem, Va., were voted by coaches in their respective regions as NFCA Regional Coaching Staff of the Year honorees for the 2021 season.
National champion Virginia Wesleyan led the way, winning the Atlantic Region title for the fourth time in the last five years that awards have been presented.
To see every NFCA Regional Coaching Staff of the Year, click here.
