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Julie Huebner
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Julie Huebner was named head softball coach at Tusculum on July 27, 2012 after serving as assistant coach for the previous two seasons.
She enters her eighth season with a 178-165 career record with the Pioneers which ranks her second all-time in career wins behind the legendary J.C. "Red" Edmonds, who had 460 victories in his 14 seasons on the Tusculum bench.
Tusculum battled to a 22-20 overall record and an 8-12 record in the South Atlantic Conference in 2019, just four games behind league champion Lincoln Memorial. The Pioneers went 6-4 against the top five teams in the conference standings, including sweeps of nationally-ranked Wingate and Newberry and an eight-run rule win against eventual SAC Tournament champion Anderson.
In 2018, the Pioneers faced a tough conference schedule and ended up just a game under .500 overall with a 24-25 record. Among the highlights were a 3-2 win over 23rd-ranked North Greenville on Feb. 22, and a doubleheader split with eventual SAC Tournament champion Carson-Newman on April 11. The Pioneers led the SAC with 16 triples and turned a league-high 23 double plays on defense. Sophomore Delaney Guerrero became the fourth Pioneer to earn NFCA All-Region honors since the Pioneers joined Division II in 1999 after hitting .421 with two home runs and 28 runs batted in.
The 2017 club finished with a 28-25 record and finished seventh in the final league standings to qualify for the South Atlantic Conference Tournament. TC dropped a 5-4 hear-breaker to No. 2 seed and 13th-ranked Lenoir-Rhyne in nine innings. Tusculum bounced back by rallying with an eight-run, sixth inning to knock off Wingate, 9-4. The 2017 club had a record-breaking season as the Pioneers clubbed a school-record 40 home runs and also established a season-best with 18 sacrifice flies. The All-Conference duo of Emily Hester and Sammie West paced the way for Tusculum.
It was a magical campaign for Huebner as Tusculum skipper in 2013, leading the Pioneers to the program's first South Atlantic Conference championship and first league title of any kind in 20 years. She was honored for the team's success by earning the SAC Coach of the Year award along with the Art Argauer Award as the Coach of the Year at Tusculum.
Tusculum rallied from a sluggish 6-11 start to the season and won 24 of its next 30 regular season contests, including a 13-5 mark in the conference to claim the SAC title. The Pioneers did it in dramatic fashion, sweeping a doubleheader over then first-place Anderson on the final day of league play, including a walk-off 4-3 victory in the title clincher.
Three Pioneers earned All-SAC accolades, including first baseman Kaytlin Stroinski, shortstop Lindsey Umberger and outfielder Miranda Beeler. Stroinski was later tabbed to the Daktronics NCAA Division II All-Southeast Region second team.
In her second year as head coach, Huebner guided the Pioneers to a fourth-place finish as her team posted a 31-24 overall record for the program's fourth consecutive 30-win campaign. Sophomore outfielder Carolyn Williamson garnered All-SAC second team honors, while senior pitcher Kelly King established a school single-season record with eight shutouts as she earned All-SAC honorable mention recogntion.
In 2014, Tusculum’s 2.07 team earned run average was the second lowest in the SAC and the fourth-best in program history. Tusculum also boasted the third-best team fielding percentage in the league at .969, which was 20th in the country and second highest in school history. The Pioneers’ 0.31 triples per game are second in the SAC and 26th in NCAA II.
In Huebner's first two seasons at Tusculum, she served as assistant coach and pitching coach. She has been instrumental in the development of Johnson, Stroinski and 2013 SAC All-Tournament honoree Kelly King.
In her first year on the Tusculum staff, the Pioneers posted an impressive 32-17 record that represented the highest win total since 1995. Along the way, Tusculum knocked off three nationally-ranked opponents, including second-ranked North Georgia, snapping the Saints' 40-game home winning streak and eventual NCAA II national runner-up Alabama-Huntsville, the Chargers' lone loss in its first 42 games of the season.
One year prior to her arrival, the Tusculum pitching staff had a team earned run average of 3.08. In her first season guiding the Pioneer pitching fortunes, Huebner’s hurlers lowered their ERA to 1.95. Johnson dropped her ERA by over a full run from 2.20 to a South Atlantic Conference-best 1.16. Erin Searcy posted dramatic improvement as well going from a 4.10 to 2.49 ERA including a pair of no-hitters, while Johnson tossed the first recorded perfect game in program history.
In 2012, the Pioneers followed with another 32-win campaign and finished fourth at the South Atlantic Conference Tournament, hosted by Tusculum College.
Since Huebner's arrival in Greeneville, nine players have garnered All-Conference recognition, including Taylor MacDonald (2011), Elizabeth Johnson (2012), Kaitlyn Stroinski (2012, 2013, 2015), Lindsey Umberger (2013), Carolyn Williamson (2014, 2015, 2016), Miranda Beeler (2013, 2016), Kelly King (2014), Emily Hester (2017), Sammie West (2017), Delaney Guerrero (2018) and Taylor Battle (2018, 2019).
Huebner came to Tusculum in 2010 after serving as an assistant coach at East Stroudsburg University in East Stroudsburg, Pa. During her three seasons with the Warriors, Huebner was the pitching coach, while mentoring the outfielders in the defensive aspects of the game.
Huebner earned her bachelor’s degree from Indiana University of Pennsylvania in 2006, graduating with honors after majoring in Hospitality Management with a minor in Psychology. She was an outfielder and two-year captain on the softball team during her time at IUP, while earning All-PSAC West Second Team honors in 2005.
The Indiana University of Pennsylvania graduate began her coaching career as an assistant at North Penn High School in Lansdale, Pa., serving one year on the Knights’ coaching staff prior to her appointment at East Stroudsburg. Her coaching experience also includes three years at the NFCA Pennsbury Recruiting Camp, as well as four years as a lead instructor at the IUP summer camps. Huebner also served as the tournament site manager for the NSA World Series Qualifier held at IUP.
Along with working softball camps at her alma mater, Huebner has also served as an instructor at the University of Tennessee, Kutztown University and East Stroudsburg.
Huebner earned her Masters of Arts degree in human resource management from Tusculum in December 2016.
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