VALDOSTA —
It happened again. The Valdosta State softball team won yet another award on Monday.
This time it was head coach Thomas Macera and his coaching staff that was honored. The group of four coaches, anchored by seventh-year head coach Macera, was named the National Coaching Staff of the Year, according to an announcement by the National Fastpitch Coaches’ Association.
“It is great,” said Macera, who was also named the 2012 Gulf South Conference Coach of the Year. “The thing is, it is not just me. It is the whole staff. I have surrounded myself with a great staff.”
That staff that Macera referenced consisted of two-year assistant Stephanie Carlson, a former infielder for the Blazers turned graduate assistant, two-year assistant Lindsay Campana, a former pitcher at Division I North Carolina State, and Jordon Yost, a former baseball standout at West Virginia and Valdosta State.
“Stephanie has been here for two years and has done a great job, and Lindsay has done unbelievable things for our pitching staff,” said Macera, who holds the record for most all-time wins at VSU with 343. “And then Jordon, he knows hitting and he helped us work some things out this year. ... The four of us together, it is just a good diversity of coaches, and we work well together.”
The Coaching Staff of the Year honor came just over two weeks following the Blazers’ 4-1 victory over the University of California-San Diego in the Division II National Championship Game in Louisville, Ky. The national championship was the first for any women’s program at Valdosta State.
The key to Macera’s success at VSU — he has never won less than 41 games in a season and has won 50-plus games on three separate occasions — might be a result of his players responding to his coaching philosophy.
“The thing is, I’ve earned their trust and they believe what I am teaching and they know it will come true,” Macera said. “They understand the advice will help them succeed.”
Along with the national championship, Macera and the VSU coaching staff guided the Blazers to a 58-5 overall record, a 26-1 mark in the Gulf South Conference, a record-breaking 36-game winning streak, a fourth consecutive conference championship, its sixth overall GSC title and a second South Region championship in three seasons.
“I always said, ‘I don’t care what I win, I always just wanted to win the national championship,’” Macera said. “It is an honor to win this, but I am really more pleased to win the national championship.”
Macera and his coaching staff also helped guide several Blazers to individual awards and accomplishments. Senior shortstop Marti Littlefield became the conference’s all-time leader in career runs batted in this season, and ranks second in the conference in career home runs.
Also this season, freshman center fielder Courtney Albritton was named the conference’s Freshman and Player of the Year, while also garnering All-America honors. Pitcher Alanna Hadley, one of eight seniors on the 2012 roster, was named the conference’s Pitcher of the Year, while being named a first team All-American by both organizations that form the teams and the Most Valuable Player of the national tournament. Left fielder Morgan Johnson and second baseman April Hutchens were also named All-Americans.
“It isn’t about me,” Macera said. “It is about these ladies and the team.”
Local Sports
Related Photos
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Valdosta State softball coaches Jordon Yost, Thomas Macera, Stephanie Carlson and Lindsay Campana were named the Division II National Coaching Staff of the Year on Monday. The honor came just two weeks after the Blazers won the Division II national championship. Tana Macera | Special to the Times
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Valdosta State softball coach Thomas Macera is swarmed by his players after the Blazers won the Division II national championship on May 19 in Louisville, Ky. Marty McGhin | Special to the Times
Discussion
Best coaching staff in Division II
Macera, assistants honored after Blazers’ championship season
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