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Otterbein University

Otterbein University Athletics
 1 South Grove Street Westerville, OH 43081
Division 3 Ohio Midwest
Private Small Developing team
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Coaches

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Bruce Anderson

Bruce Anderson enters his second year as head softball coach at Otterbein University after being hired over the summer of 2021.


In his first season, Anderson guided the Cardinals to 23-13 overall record and 10-8 mark within Ohio Athletic Conference play. Despite being picked tenth in the league's preseason poll, his team earned a top-four finish in the regular season to qualify for the OAC Tournament.


Anderson arrived to Otterbein after spending eight years as lead assistant coach at fellow OAC school John Carroll, primarily overseeing the pitching staff while contributing to many other aspects of the program.


Anderson, who holds a degree in social work from Ohio University, is a retired children services administrator with extensive softball coaching experience. He's been a senior pitching instructor for All-Stars Advantage since 2008, working with pitchers of all ages, and also coached the Central Ohio Ice (U18 and U23) for four seasons. In addition, Anderson has served in high school coaching roles at Newark, Utica and Heath.


A total of 14 John Carroll pitchers earned Academic All-OAC honors during Anderson's stretch in University Heights. AnnMarie Kirchner earned first team All-OAC under his guidance in 2016, when the team posted a 2.89 E.R.A. Jessica Cook then pitched a perfect game during the 2017 campaign.


"I envision a softball family that models what the Otterbein community is as a whole, and just doing our part as a strong branch of that," Anderson said. "I certainly want to build a winning tradition but, more importantly, a tight-knit team that has each other's backs and feels part of something bigger than themselves…


Anderson worked 30 years for the Licking County Department of Job & Family Services, including 13 as an administrator. He and his wife, Gail, live in Newark and have two grown children.

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Jami Pope

Jami Pope is in her first year as an assistant coach for the Otterbein Softball Program. Jami is well versed in the Ohio softball region at both the travel and college level.


Pope has spent the past 15 years directing several different teams throughout the state and has been responsible for the successful transition from travel ball to college softball for over 30 young women.


For the past 9 years she has coached the Ohio Stingrays 03 team and most recently has taken over the Ohio Wolfpack 24/25 team.


Prior to coaching at Otterbein, she ran a daycare out of her home in Gambier. A native of Mount Vernon, Jami and her husband Matt have four kids: Bayli (Cody) Dennison, Rhyli (18), Presli (15), and Grady (14).

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Sami Ange

Samantha (Sami) Ange began her first year as a graduate assistant coach for the Otterbein Softball program in 2022-23 after completing a four-year playing career.


During her undergraduate career, Ange played in 83 games for the Cardinals while battling through injuries and the COVID-19 pandemic. She started 34 games as a senior when the program (picked tenth/last) in the OAC Preseason Poll finished 23-13 overall and made the league's four-team bracket in the postseason. Ange held a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage in right field.


Ange also excelled in the classroom with a 3.83 GPA, becoming a 3x Academic All-OAC qualifier while majoring in health communication and public relations. She earned her bachelor's degree in the spring of 2022.


Ange holds internship experience with the Division of Otterbein Student Affairs, Westerville Area Resource Ministry and Swagelok Corporate Communications. She has also established The Social Butterly Shop, a small clothing business run on Instagram.


While on staff, Ange will be working toward her master's of allied health.

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