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Justin Walker
Justin Walker was named head coach of the George Mason softball program in July 2021 after having served in an interim role during the 2020 campaign. He will be coaching his fourth season with the Patriots in the 2024 season. Walker joined the softball coaching staff as an assistant in 2018.
Walker was named interim head coach of the Patriot softball program on April 15, 2020, where he later led the Green & Gold to an 8-0 record to start the 2021 season, the program's best start since 1983. Walker capped off his first season at the helm with the program's first winning season (18-17 overall record) since 2014.
In the classroom under Walker, 26 softball student-athletes were named to the 2020-21 Atlantic 10 Commissioner's Honor Roll, 96 percent of the team's roster
Walker's second year as head coach saw more improvement on the field. In 2022, the team won 24 games, the most since 2004. Four patriots earned postseason conference accolades that year as well. Haley Taormina, Taylor Dadig and Marlaina Bozek were named All-Conference Second Team, while freshman Jordan Anderson was named to the All-Rookie team. In that same season, Bozek was named to the NFCA Mid-Atlantic All-Region Second Team. Bozek, along with Dadig, were also named to the Virginia Sports Information Director (VaSID) All-State's Second Team.
In the classroom, 12 Patriots were recognized as Easton/NFCA All-America Scholar-Athletes. This award is given to student-athletes who carry a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or higher.
In his third year, Walker led the 2023 Mason Softball team to its best season in softball history, winning the Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament and earning a bid to the NCAA College Softball Tournament. He and his coaching staff were also honored with the ATEC/NFCA Division I Regional Coaching Staff of the Year award, Mason's first ever such award.
The softball team broke numerous Patriot records, such as home runs (27), doubles (90), slugging percentage (.408), RBI (226), stolen bases (135), walks (191), fielding percentage (.977) and strikeouts pitched (360). Their 35-win season is also tied for the fourth-most wins in a single season in program history and the most since 2002.
Over the course of the 2023 season, the Atlantic 10 recognized George Mason 10 times in their weekly Pitcher/Player/Rookie of the Week awards, the most of any school in the conference that season.
Atlantic 10 Pitcher of the Year and First-Team All A-10 Team member Aly Rayle and First Team All A-10 member Nicole Bechtel were also nationally recognized as NFCA Pitcher (March 28) and Player of the Week (April 25), respectively. Being given national awards was also a first for Mason Softball.
Two other Patriots were awarded end of the season conference awards in the 2023 season. Second baseman Marlaina Bozek was named First Team All A-10, while third baseman Haley Taormina earned Second Team All A-10. Taormina, Rayle and Bechtel were also named to the NFCA's Mid-Atlantic All-Region Second team.
In the 2023 Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament, Walker and the fourth-seeded Patriots created even more history. Not only did they become the lowest seed to be crowned conference champion since 1990, but they were lowest-ever sole owner of the championship, as the 1990 tournament had co-champions.
The road to the A-10 trophy for the #4 Patriots meant beating #5 Fordham (the previous champions), #1 Saint Louis and #2 Loyola Chicago. Four Patriots were named to the All-Championship team for their exceptional play that week. The players named were Carly Cooper, Maddy Myers, Haley Taormina and Aly Rayle.
Rayle was also named Most Outstanding Player of the Tournament. She went 4-1 with a 1.06 ERA, striking out 39 batters in her 33 innings and allowed only two walks. Rayle pitched a gem of a first game against Fordham, striking out a record 18 batters en route to her complete game shutout victory.
Justin Walker's team also excelled in the classroom at George Mason. During the Green and Gold Awards, the softball team was awarded the President's Cup, an award given to a Mason team with the highest cumulative team GPA in the fall semester of 2022. The team was again recognized in the spring semester of 2023 for having the highest GPA in Mason athletics, achieving a team cumulative GPA of 3.59. In that same Green and Gold Awards, Nicole Bechtel was awarded Women's Most Improved Player, while freshman Elyssa DeRosa was awarded Women's Rookie of the Year. At the end of the 2023 season, 10 Patriots were recognized as Easton/NFCA All-America Scholar-Athletes and the team as a whole was nationally ranked 38th out of 172 eligible Division I schools in team GPA.
"[W]hen I was presented the opportunity to become the interim head coach, my staff and I did everything in our power to help create a positive and constant place for our team to grow on and off the field while having success in the classroom," said Walker. "I look forward to seeing that growth continue and develop throughout my years at George Mason."
Under the direction of Walker in 2021, the Patriots' pitching staff finished with the fewest hits surrendered in the Atlantic 10, second-fewest earned runs, third in team ERA (2.68) and opponent batting average (.254) and fourth in total shutouts (6). The Green & Gold also finished second in the conference in stolen bases (62) and fourth in fielding percentage (.964) last season.
During his first season as interim head coach, sophomore Rachel Warrens was named to the A-10 All-Conference Second Team and A-10 All-Rookie Team while junior EJ Bankson earned VaSID All-State honors. Senior pitcher Haellie Gordon was also named A-10 Pitcher of the Week (March 16) under Walker.
In the fall of 2023, George Mason and Coach Walker agreed to a contract extension that would last through the 2027-28 season.
Prior to his time with Mason softball, Walker spent four seasons with the baseball program.
As a member of Mason baseball, Walker was part of a coaching staff that brought an A-10 Championship to Fairfax in their inaugural season (2014) as members of the conference and the program's first conference title since 1992.
A native of Marengo, Ohio, Walker is a graduate of Rio Grande University in Ohio, where he earned his degree in sports and exercise studies with a minor in coach leadership.
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