2007 Season
The Missouri Coaches
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Ehren Earleywine
First Season at Missouri (0-0)
Fourth Season Overall (146-55)
Tabbed the eighth head softball coach at the University of Missouri,
August 25, 2006, Ehren Earleywine inherits a Tiger team that has made
three NCAA Regional Tournament appearances over the past four years
with runner-up showings at the Big 12 Championships in two of the last
three seasons. A native of Jefferson City, Mo., Earleywine has returned
home to take the Tigers to the next level of competition.
“Being offered the job at Missouri is truly a dream come true for
me and my family,” Earleywine said. “The opportunity to coach in my
home state, 30 miles from home is as good as it gets. I feel fortunate
to be in my destination job with so much career ahead of me. I hope
to elevate the program to new heights.”
Earleywine enters the 2006-07 season with a proven coaching
career. During his five seasons at Georgia Tech, of which the final
three he served as head coach, Earleywine’s team made five consecutive
appearances in the NCAA Regional Tournament. Finishing runnerup on three occasions, the Ramblin’ Wreck claimed Atlantic Coast
Conference (ACC) regular season and tournament titles in 2005. To
his credit, Earleywine was named the 2005 ACC Coach of the Year,
while Georgia Tech second baseman Aileen Morales received all-region
first team and ACC Co-Freshman of the Year honors. Earleywine led
his team to two conference championship title game appearances over
the course of three years and enters the 2006-07 campaign with an
overall winning percentage of .722
(146-55), placing him 11th among
active Division I head coaches. The
fifth fastest coach to reach 100 wins
in NCAA Division I softball history,
Earleywine has averaged 48 wins per
year as a head coach.
“I firmly believe that the University
of Missouri softball program is in a
position to compete for the Big 12
title every year,” Earleywine said.
“One of my top priorities is to
advance into an NCAA Regional
Tournament every year and make
a run in postseason. If and when
you achieve those two things,
your team will automatically rank
among the top 15 to 20 programs
in the nation. We always talk about
winning and losing and that’s all
good and well, but ultimately, it’s
a by product of preparation and
a day-by-day process that involves
practice, conditioning, teamwork
and effort.”
Among his accomplishments,
Earleywine’s squads broke every
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offensive record in school history, setting eight ACC records along the
way. In 2006, Georgia Tech displayed the top offensive season for any
program in ACC history. The Ramblin’ Wreck broke league single season
records in home runs (75), RBI (385), doubles (99), runs scored (428),
slugging percentage (.495) and total bases (903). Nationally, Tech led
the country for the second straight season with 138 stolen bases and
turned the most double plays of anyone in the NCAA with a school
record 40. Tech was third in the nation in total bases, fourth in runs
per game (6.11), fifth in home runs and tallied the sixth-best walk total
(249) in NCAA history.
Named the top assistant coach at Georgia Tech in 2002, Earleywine
coached the infielders and worked on hitting mechanics with the squad.
During his two seasons as assistant coach, the Ramblin’ Wreck hitters
broke 16 school records and two conference records.
Focusing on more than just athletics, Earleywine takes pride in the
fact that his softball teams have been strong academically. In 2006, five
members of Earleywine’s squad earned All-ACC Academic honors.
1994 graduate of Westminster College, Earleywine played baseball
at Missouri State University (formerly Southwest Missouri State)
for one year before transferring to the Fulton, Mo., school for the
remainder of his collegiate career. Earleywine served as an assistant
coach at Westminster through the 1997 campaign under the guidance
of former Major League Baseball outfielder and former Tiger, Phil
Bradley, then took the reigns as head coach until 1999. Following his
time at Westminster, Earleywine was named assistant baseball coach at
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in 2000, remaining there until 2002 before
taking the Head Assistant Coaching position at Georgia Tech.
A standout in men’s major fastpitch softball, Earleywine was a fourtime member of Team USA (2000, 2001, 2002, 2003) including being
named captain for his final two seasons with the national team.
In 2002, Team USA captured its first-ever Gold Medal in the Pan
Am Qualifier, where Earleywine hit .429. At the 2003 Pan Am Games,
hosted by the Dominican Republic, Earleywine helped lead Team USA
to a Silver Medal.
A six-time American Softball Association (ASA) All-American,
Earleywine was an All-World selection in 1999 by the International
Softball Congress (ISC). As a member of the Decatur Pride, Earleywine’s
team earned the ASA Softball National Championship title in 1999
taking World Championship honors in 2001 with the ISC.
Earleywine is a graduate of Jefferson City High School and is married
to Linn, Mo., native Lisa. The two have two children, three-year old
son Connor and one-year old daughter Duran.
“The fact of the matter is that Ehren Earleywine understands
the commitment to academic integrity, and what it means to
get a degree, and to be an athlete, and to get a degree while
competing at a very high level.”
-Missouri Director of Athletics, Mike Alden
EARLEYWINE QUICK HITS
PERSONAL
Born: Nov. 4, 1970
Family: Lisa (wife), Connor (son), Duran (daughter)
Education: B.S. - Westminster College, 1994
Hired at Missouri: August 25, 2006
COACHING EXPERIENCE
Assistant Coach
Westminster College (Baseball) ............................1993-1996
Texas A&M Corpus Christi (Baseball) .................1999-2000
Georgia Tech..........................................................2001-2003
Head Coach
Westminster College (Baseball) ............................1996-1999
Georgia Tech..........................................................2003-2006
University of Missouri ..................................... 2006-present
YEAR-BY-YEAR RECORDS
As Softball Head Coach:
2005-06
Georgia Tech .............................................. 48-22-0
2004-05
Georgia Tech .............................................. 51-14-0
2003-04
Georgia Tech .............................................. 47-19-0
3 Years
Total Record............................................. 146-55-0
As Softball Assistant Coach:
2001-03
Georgia Tech ..................................................90-43
2 Years
Total Record...................................................90-43
MISSOURI COACHING RECORDS
Coach
Alexis Jarrett
Debbie Duren
Barb Preist
Joyce Compton
Rhesa Sumrell
Jay Miller
Ty Singleton
Ehren Earleywine
Years
1974-1976
1976-1980
1980-1982
1982-1986
1986-1987
1987-2002
2002-2006
2006-Present
Record
28-14
78-50
91-32
115-77
14-18
556-309
130-88
2007-Missouri Softball
Pct.
.666
.609
.740
.599
.438
.643
.596
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Melissa Tucci
First Season at Missouri
Melissa Tucci begins her first year as an assistant coach for the University
of Missouri softball team this season. Tucci comes to the Tiger program
from Marist College in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., where she served as head
softball coach beginning in 2001.
As head coach at Marist, Tucci was in charge of all phases of the college’s
NCAA Division I program. Her responsibilities included recruiting,
budgeting, staffing, scheduling, event management, travel planning,
marketing and promotions, and fundraising.
Tucci comes to the University of Missouri with an extensive list of
personal accolades. In her time at Marist, Tucci turned a Red Fox squad that
was 11-43 in 2004 into a conference champion in 2006 with an impressive
33-11 record. For its efforts during the 2006 season, Tucci’s team also made
the program’s first-ever NCAA tournament appearance, where they faced,
and ultimately lost, to the No.1 seeded University of Arizona. The 2006
Marist squad ended its season ranked eighth nationally in home runs per
game, 19th in slugging percentage, 21st in win-loss percentage and 21st
in team earned run average. Individual rankings included eighth in runs
scored, ninth in home runs per game, ninth in earned run average, 10th
in slugging percentage and 15th in RBI.
In recognition of her effective coaching style and her team’s results,
Tucci was designated the 2006 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC)
Coach of the Year. Two of her players were also honored as MAAC Player
of the Year and Pitcher of the Year at season’s end.
Over the course of her five-season stint as head coach of the Red Foxes,
Tucci had a number of players earn individual honors. She produced 11
All-MAAC players and 10 All-MAAC Players of the Week. During her
tenure at Marist, one of Tucci’s players also slugged her way into top 10
NCAA batting history. Since 2004, eight players were also selected for the
USA Athletes International Competition where they played in England,
Italy, and Australia.
In addition to their efforts on the diamond, Tucci’s players proved
extremely active in the classroom as well. In 2004, the Red Fox softball team
was ranked third nationally by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association
(NFCA) after compiling a cumulative 3.528 GPA. Nine of Tucci’s players
were awarded Academic All-America honors and 33 were honored as AllConference Academic Players. A number of her players were also named
ESPN/CoSIDA Academic All-District Team members.
Tucci was just as impressive a player on the Red Fox squad during
her undergraduate career. While on the team she received MAAC AllConference and All-Tournament honors as well as weekly honors in
NCAA Division I softball. She also served on the Captain’s Council for
two years.
On top of playing softball at Marist, Tucci also worked as a research and
teaching assistant in finance her senior year. She performed significant
research on such financial topics as debt financing, venture capital and
mortgage compliance and regulation in order to develop lecture material.
During her time in this position, Tucci was given the opportunity to lecture
a 400-level class on investment analysis.
Tucci graduated with a degree in Business Administration with
concentrations in finance and marketing from Marist in 2001. She earned
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2007-Missouri Softball
her Master’s of Business Administration there four years later.
Community service has been important to the Tigers’ new assistant
coach as well. Before leaving Marist to take on her new position at Missouri,
Tucci had been a volunteer for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and
Special Olympics since 2001 and a mentor at the Children’s Home of
Poughkeepsie since 2002.
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Mark Redburn
First Season at Missouri
Coming into his first season as the Tigers assistant coach, Mark Redburn
brings a rich softball background to the University of Missouri. Redburn
spent two seasons at Jefferson Junior College, the most recent of which he
served as head coach (2006). Responsible for the pioneering of softball at
Jefferson in 2004, as the school never had a team prior, Redburn led Jefferson
to a 49-16 overall record, and finished in ninth place in the National Junior
College Athletic Association (NJCAA) National Tournament.
While at Jefferson, Redburn was responsible for the recruiting of local
players from Missouri and Illinois. With these players, Redburn led the
Vikings to a Midwest Community College Athletic Conference (MCCAC)
and regional championship while earning Regional and Conference Coach
of the Year honors in 2006. Redburn was more than a coach at Jefferson.
During his time in Hillsboro, Mo., Redburn brought his passion for
softball to the school. He not only started the team, but also designed and
helped maintain a brand new field and its facilities. He turned many of
his players into all-conference (three) and all-region (four) players, with
one finishing as a second team All-American.
From 2001 until 2004, before his time at Jefferson, Redburn, a St.
Charles, Mo., resident, spent three seasons as the head coach of St. Charles
Community College. During his time there the Cougars won 75 games,
the most in school history. Redburn also coached two All-Americans, and
several individuals to all conference and all-region honors. Redburn helped
accomplish many firsts in St. Charles softball history. The team, under his
direction, placed seventh in the NJCAA tournament (2003), was crowned
region champs in 2003 and finished second in the conference, all firsts for
St. Charles. Redburn also led his team to an 8-5 postseason record, and
had a school record 33 wins in 2004.
Redburn’s duties extended beyond softball during his time at St. Charles.
He spent a year-and-a-half as the head athletic coordinator and six months
as an academic advisor. He helped finance the softball program and
schedule all of its events, taking full control of the program.
Redburn graduated from the University of Missouri-St. Louis with a
bachelor’s of science in education, specializing in special education. He is
currently pursuing a Master’s in athletics and activities administration at
William Woods. After graduation from UMSL, Redburn took a job in the
Fort Zumwalt School District. Redburn was responsible for assisting and
educating students with learning disabilities and behavioral disorders, all
while coaching the freshman softball team. After leaving Fort Zumwalt,
Redburn then returned to his alma mater, St.Charles West High School.
Redburn will use both his passion and love for both softball and teaching
while at Mizzou, and will no doubt play a very important role with all the
players on the team.
2007-Missouri Softball
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Media Relations
Academic Advisor
Emily
Gatewood
Jimi
Langley
Fourth Season at Missouri
Emily Gatewood returns for her fourth year with the Missouri Media
Relations office. An assistant director, Gatewood is the primary contact
for the softball and wrestling programs, supervises a 45-member student
staff and assists in the everyday activities surrounding Missouri’s 20
varsity sports.
Named the 2005 National Wrestling Media Association (NWMA)
Publicist of the Year as an associate, Gatewood was promoted to assistant
director after serving as primary contact for wrestling and softball in 2004
and 2005. During those two years, Gatewood assisted in co-hosting the
NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships in St. Louis and also served
as host to the 2005 NCAA Softball Regional Tournament at University
Field in Columbia, Mo. Gatewood’s 2003-04 wrestling media guide was
voted fifth-best in the nation by the College Sports Information Directors
of America (CoSIDA).
Gatewood graduated from Elon College in 2000 with a Bachelor’s of
Science Degree in Corporate and Broadcast Communications, interning
at WTTG Fox 5, MCI Center and the Greensboro Coliseum during her
four years of college. A 2003 graduate of the University of NebraskaLincoln, Gatewood earned her Master’s in Sports Communications while
acting as graduate assistant in the Nebraska Sports Information office.
Over the course of two years, Gatewood served as SID to the men’s and
women’s track and field and cross country teams and men’s gymnastics
program, assisting with hosting duties for the Big 12 Indoor Track and
Field Championships and 2003 NCAA Women’s Gymnastics Division I
Championships.
The daughter of retired Navy Cdr. Joel and Marcia Gatewood, Emily is
a native of Poway, Calif., and is a member of CoSIDA.
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2007-Missouri Softball
First Season at Missouri
Joining the Total Person Program staff in January, 2007 is James (Jimi)
Langley, who will work with the football, softball, track and field, men’s and
women’s golf and wrestling programs as an Academic Coordinator.
A 1993 graduate of Hamilton University, Langley received his bachelor’s
degree in business management, later earning an MBA in 2000 also from
Hamilton University.
Over the past five years, Langley has worked for the University of
Missouri’s Academic Retention Services as a Student Service Coordinator,
providing programs and activities designed to support students and
promote academic achievement and progress towards graduation. Five
years prior to his time at Mizzou, Langley worked for Metlife Financial
Services where he was a Financial Services Representative and Sales
Manager. Langley is a native of our nation’s capitol, Washington, DC
and has been married to April C.E. Langley, a native of New York, and a
professor in MU’s English Department, for the past 21 years. He has no
children, other than his two dogs, Rocky (11) and Dunbar (14 weeks), and
his cat, Kahlil (12). In his spare time he is learning the game of golf.
Strength Coach
Athletic Trainer
Ken
Wong
Kara
Williams
First Season at Missouri
Ken Wong enters his first year as a member of the Missouri Strength
and Conditioning program. As a graduate assistant strength coach, his
main responsibilities are assisting with the player development program
for football as well as the design and implementation of programs for the
Missouri softball and men’s golf teams.
Wong came to Missouri via the University of South Florida. At USF he
assisted the director of strength and conditioning with football as well as the
track and field throwers programs. During that same time he was invited
to be an assistant Spring Training coach with the New York Yankees.
Prior to South Florida, Wong spent five years in Japan as the head
strength and conditioning coach for two top-league professional rugby
clubs. During his time overseas he worked with several national rugby
team members from Australia, Japan, New Zealand, and Tonga as well as
standouts from the Super 14 Professional League.
In Canada, Wong worked as a strength and conditioning coach
with members of Canada’s national teams, most notably with Hockey
Canada and FIFA World Cup (2002 and 2006) English mid-fielder Owen
Hargreaves. He also worked with several collegiate and professional teams
and served one year as a kinesiologist at one of the national team’s sportsmedicine clinics based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
Wong graduated from the University of Ottawa where he earned
his bachelor’s degree from the School of Human Kinetics. While at
the University of Missouri, he will pursue a master’s degree in Health
Education and Promotion. Wong is recognized as a Certified Strength
and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) through the National Strength and
Conditioning Association (NSCA) as well as a Level-3 (Multi-Sport) Coach
through the Coaching Association of Canada.
Wong was born and raised in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. He is engaged
to Nadia Lachance of Cache Bay, Ontario, Canada.
Third Season at Missouri
Entering her third year as the Missouri softball athletic trainer is Kara
Williams. Williams is responsible for the Sports Medicine duties for the
Tigers, working with the softball team in the prevention and rehabilitation
of injuries.
Williams came to Missouri after spending four years at the University
of North Carolina-Wilmington. During her time with the Seahawks,
Williams worked with the volleyball, swimming and diving, track, softball
and women’s basketball teams.
At UNCW, Williams spent a year as an intern, two years as an athletic
trainer and one year as the interim director of athletic training.
Williams graduated from the University of Cincinnati in 1998 with
a Bachelor’s Degree in health promotion, with an emphasis in athletic
training. She later received her Master’s in sports administration from
Louisville in 2000, while serving as a graduate assistant with the men’s and
women’s soccer, track and field and softball programs.
A native of Tiffin, Ohio, Williams is a member of the National Athletic
Training Association (NATA).
2007-Missouri Softball
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Missouri Support Staff
Mark Alnutt
Associate Athletic
Director for
Administration
Monica Anwander
Student Trainer
Mary Ann Austin
Associate Athletic
Director for
Compliance
Dane Barker
Marketing Student
Assistant
Pat Beckmann
Athletic Trainer
Mitzi Clayton
Assistant Athletic
Director for
Compliance
Ro g e r Cr u m p t o n
Assistant
Athletic Director for
Arena Operations
Tad Dunn
Assistant Athletic
Director for Game
Operations
Colleen Engelhard
Director of Game
Operations
Lori Franz
Faculty Athletic
Representative
Marty Finn
Director of Ticket
Operations
Tim Hickman
Associate Athletic
Director for
Operations
Mike Kelly
Director of Broadcast
Operations
Gene McArtor
Director of Project
Management
Bryan Maggard
Associate Athletic
Director for
Academic Services
Chad Moller
Director of Media
Relations
Eric Morrison
Associate Athletic
Director for External
Operations
Sarah Reesman
Senior Associate
Athletic Director
Jennifer Smith
Student Manager
Bob Stanley
Assistant Athletic
Director for Athletic
Facilities
Scott Stevens
Director of Suite
Operations
Nichole Wade
Student Manager
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2007-Missouri Softball