Third-year head coach Betsy Hada and the Heidelberg softball team looks to build off the success from the 2010 season and establish themselves as a top tier team in the Ohio Athletic Conference.
Heidelberg conducted one of the best seasons in the history of the program a season ago. Its 22-16 overall record ties for second-most all-time for wins in a single season. The team also eclipsed the most home runs in a single season with 21. Against league foes, Heidelberg finished 7-11. Included in its list of victories was a doubleheader sweep of nationally ranked Mount Union College, as well as victories against Muskingum University, Marietta College and Baldwin-Wallace College.
Hada has coached two All-OAC honorees and one Academic All-OAC First Team recipient. A year ago, she had 12 players receive 2010 National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) All-America Scholar-Athlete recognition, which led the conference.
A late addition to the program in the summer of 2009, Hada utilized her first year at Heidelberg as a time to reorganize and restructure the program for future success. Hada helped to guide the Berg to a sweep of Wilmington College, which marks 10-straight wins against the Quakers, as well as a split with perennial OAC power Marietta College on the Pioneers home field.
Hada, a 2001 Heidelberg graduate, is just the 10th head coach in the history of the fast pitch program that dates back to 1985. Hada brings a wealth of OAC playing and coaching experience to the Berg. Prior to Heidelberg, Hada was the assistant softball and pitching coach at Marietta, as well as a resident director and instructor. The Pioneers were consistently ranked in the top-25 of the National Fastpitch Coaches Association poll and made the 2007 NCAA regional tournament. In 2006, Hada shared Ohio Athletic Conference Coaching Staff of the Year honors.
She also has worked with Coast to Coast Softball, based out of Manchester, Conn., as an assistant coach and pitching instructor for the past three years. Hada traveled with the team to Hawaii in 2005 and Australia in 2007.
While at the Berg, Hada was a four-year letter winner and two-time captain, while splitting time on the mound and in centerfield. During her senior season, Hada was named Third Team All-Central Region. She currently stands second in the single season record book with 38 RBIs, 12 doubles, and fifth with five homeruns. In the career record book, Hada is fifth with 65 RBIs and third with seven homeruns.
A native of Painesville, Ohio, Hada was inducted into the T.W. Harvey High School Athletic Hall of Fame in October of 2008. She received a bachelor of arts in health and physical education from Heidelberg and a master’s degree in education from Marietta in 2006.