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University of NC - Wilmington

UNCW Seahawks
 601 S College Rd Wilmington, NC 28403
Division 1 North Carolina Southeast
Public Large National competitor
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Ashley Wade

Ashley Wade completed her first year as the UNCW Softball Head Coach after being named to the post in August 2022.


Wade, the fifth head coach in program history, inherited the defending 2022 Colonial Athletic Association softball champions and guided the Seahawks to new heights in 2023 with a 23-27 record, including a program record 17 conference victories along with softball's highest CAA finish (second place).


Under Wade's tutelage, UNCW produced the most All-CAA First-Teamers in school history with Janel Gamache, Kara Hammock and Arial Pearce earning selections to the league's top team while Tayler Vitola garned a Second-Team nod.UNCW


Gamache, a dynamic two-way player, elevated her play under Wade to capture CAA Player of the Year honors after leading the Seahawks with a .364 average and tying for first in the CAA with a 1.93 ERA in the circle. Gamache and Hammock (1.98 ERA) spearheaded a Seahawk staff that produced a 2.71 ERA, good for second in the circuit.


The 2023 Seahawks were the first team in program history to sweep all home conference series, ending the year a perfect 12-0 in CAA home games and 17-9 overall at Boseman Field. UNCW opened CAA play with a sweep of Towson in which it exploded for 32 hits over three games, the second-highest total in a three-game CAA series since joining the league in 2004.


Wade picked up her first win as the Seahawks skipper on Feb. 9, 2023, with a walk-off 2-1 victory over Purdue Fort Wayne in eight innings. UNCW also dispatched North Carolina for the first time in five years which also represented the program's first victory over a Power Five foe since 2019.


Prior UNCW, Wade spent seven seasons on the staff at Northern Illinois. A native of Baltimore, Md., Wade arrived in DeKalb, Ill., in 2015 before being promoted to Associate Head Coach in 2019 under Huskies Head Coach Christina Sutcliffe.


During her 13-year coaching career, Wade has worked with two NCAA All-American selections, six CoSIDA Academic All-Americans, 13 National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) All-Region honorees, 45 All-Conference selections and an NCAA Top-25 Freshman.


Wade was involved in all facets of the NIU program. Wade, who worked primarily with infield, outfield and team defense, also arranged fall game schedules, scouting reports and oversaw the program's operational and equipment budgets.


She collaborated with academic advisors to oversee NIU's success in the classroom, with the Huskies posting a 3.639 team GPA, the 14th best mark in the nation, during the 2021-22 academic year.

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In seven seasons with the Huskies, Wade helped the team rack up 162 wins and their first division title in 16 years when they captured the 2016 Mid-American Conference West Division crown in her first year. The 35-win campaign was followed by 33 victories in 2017, the program's first back-to-back 30-win seasons since 1999-2000.


Wade spent the 2015 season as an assistant coach at Northwestern Oklahoma State, where she was responsible for working with the Rangers' outfielders and hitters. The Rangers batted .286 with 41 home runs and 183 RBIs in 49 games.


The Seahawk skipper earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration from Stevenson in 2013. Wade was a volunteer assistant for three seasons with the Mustangs softball team under Head Coach Joey Lye, a bronze medalist with Team Canada at the 2020 Olympics, and helped lead Stevenson to its first Middle Atlantic Conference championship appearance in 2013.


With a school-record 24 wins, the Mustangs qualified for the Eastern College Athletic Conference South Championship which marked the program's second-ever postseason appearance.


Prior to Stevenson, Wade served as an assistant coach at Coppin State for the 2010 and 2011 seasons. Joining a program that totaled five victories from 2007-09, Wade helped the Eagles win a school-record 22 games in 2010 and reached the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference tournament for the first time in six years. Coppin State had four All-MEAC First-Teamers and the league's Pitcher of the Year in Paige Arnold.


The 2011 Eagles softball team played to an 18-16 record, the first winning season in program history, and won their first MEAC tournament game. Coppin State established 22 school records in Wade's two-year stint.


Before arriving at Coppin State, Wade earned her Associate of Arts degree from the Community College of Baltimore County Dundalk in 2007, where she played one season for the Lady Lions.


Wade earned her Master of Science Degree in Sports Management from NIU in 2018, along with a certification in Sports Psychology. She was designated a One-Star Master Coach by the NFCA.

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Erin Dixson

Erin Dixson completed her second season as an assistant coach on the Seahawks' softball staff in 2023 following a breakout 2022 campaign which saw the UNCW program capture the schools' first Colonial Athletic Association Championship and NCAA Tournament appearance.


The Dixson-led pitching staff once again ranked near the top of the CAA in team ERA with a 2.71 mark, just the 13th time Seahawk hurlers have produced a team ERA lower than 3.00. Right-handers Janel Gamache (1.93) and Kara Hammock (1.98) boasted two of the three lowest ERAs in the league, with Gamache's performance in the circle playing a role in capturing CAA Player of the Year Honors. Both aces also garnered All-Conference First-Team accolades.


The 2023 Seahawks combined for 14 complete games and four shutouts while striking out 262 batters, the sixth most in school history.


In Dixson's first season in the Port City, UNCW boasted one of the best pitching staffs in the nation, finishing with a 1.85 staff ERA and a school-record 308 strikeouts. The strong circle performance was attributed to a pair of freshmen in Emily Winstead and Hammock. The duo finished with the top two lowest ERAs in the CAA and became UNCW's first CAA Pitcher of the Year (Winstead) and Rookie of the Year (Hammock) recipients.


UNCW pitched 23 complete games and authored 10 shutouts. The Seahawks set a school record with seven saves, with Amberlyn Pearce matching the individual benchmark of three. UNCW defeated perennial CAA powerhouse James Madison, a Women's College World Series participant in 2021, in a series for the first time since 2006.


Winstead set the freshman single-season strikeout record and came within six of the overall single-season record with 184 strikeouts. The Bunn, N.C., native was also named a National Fastpitch Coaches Association Top 25 Freshman in her first season under Dixson's guidance.


Dixson joined the Seahawks' staff after two seasons as pitching coach at Georgia State. The Panthers posted a 7-16 record during the COVID-19 shortened campaign in 2020 before finishing last year at 16-30.


Under Dixson's tutelage, the Panthers' pitching staff lowered its earned run average from 5.37 in 2019 to 4.40 last year. Sophie Mooney ranked seventh in the Sun Belt Conference with 82 strikeouts, while Emily Buck was the conference leader by conceding just 56 hits in 56.0 innings.


Prior to her time at Georgia State, Dixson spent the 2019 season as the pitching coach at Lamar. The Cardinals posted a 23-34 record, including a 14-13 mark in the Southland Conference.


Aaliyah Ruiz paced the Lamar pitching staff with a 2.30 earned run average in 24 appearances as the Cardinals ranked seventh in the Southland Conference with a 2.99 team ERA.


Dixson, who earned her master's degree in Kinesiology from LSU, served as a graduate manager for two seasons with the Tigers, who reached the NCAA® Women's College World Series in 2017.


A 2015 graduate of Eckerd with a Bachelor's Degree in Communications, Dixson appeared in 52 games for the Tritons from 2014-15 and ranks fourth in program history with a 2.78 earned run average. She also stands ninth on the career list with 113 strikeouts, while her 24 wins in the circle are good for sixth in school history.


The Amherst, N.Y., native also excelled at the plate, hitting .308 with 19 home runs and 62 runs batted in. Her .571 slugging percentage ranks third in Eckerd program history.


Dixson earned Second-Team NFCA All-South Region distinction as a first baseman during her senior season and was a Second-Team All-Sunshine State Conference pick after hitting 11 home runs with 36 runs batted in.

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Parker Stevens

Parker Stevens, completed his third year as a volunteer assistant at his alma mater, has helped the UNCW softball program soar to new heights in his time in the Port City.


Stevens, a Mount Airy, North Carolina native, helped guide the Seahawks to the school’s first Colonial Athletic Association Championship and NCAA Tournament appearance in 2022. After continuing on staff under new skipper Ashley Wade, UNCW won a program record 17 conference games and earned its highest finish (second place) since joining the CAA in 2004.


While at UNCW, Stevens has primarily overseen the Seahawks catchers, including a pair of CAA All-First Teamers in Jada Santiago (2021 and NFCA All-Region) and Mackenzie Amodeo (2022), plus the team’s 2021 Defensive Player of the Year, Anna Knox. He also coached first base and led all community service projects for the Seahawks.


Since joining the Seahawks in 2020, Stevens has been part of a staff that has produced four NFCA All-Region athletes, the first CAA Pitcher and Rookie of the Year recipients in program history as well as six CAA First-Teamers, five Second-Teamers, and five All-Rookie team selections. Two-way star Janel Gamache became the second Seahawk in program history to earn CAA Player of the Year in 2023.


The UNCW softball team claimed the school’s Team Leadership Award for the fourth consecutive year in 2022. The Seahawks contributed more than 800 hours of community service last season, while compiling a 32-15 record and a team 3.60 grade point average.


Stevens joined the Seahawks following two seasons as an assistant coach at nearby Laney High School, where he worked with the team’s pitchers and catchers. During his time at Laney, the Buccaneers posted a 20-8 record while earning a state playoff berth in both seasons.


Stevens joined the Port City Thunder Fastpitch organization in 2017 and served as the Head Coach of their Premier team. Stevens also owns Iron Mask Catching, LLC and is an active member of the Cape Fear Optimist Club which promotes youth sports.


Stevens also coached varsity baseball, football, and track and field at East Chapel Hill High School from 1999-2000 and at Topsail High School from 2009-12. While at Topsail, Stevens coached a two-time 2A North Carolina High School High Jump State Champion.


Stevens himself was a varsity letter winner in six different sports at East Rowan High School and Mount Airy High School. In 1999, Parker received his Bachelor of Arts in Communications and a minor in Leadership Studies from UNCW. While a Seahawk, he was also a member of the rugby and baseball club teams. After graduation, Parker worked one season for the Durham Dragons, a member of the Women’s Professional Softball League.


In 2019, Stevens earned a Master’s degree from Liberty University in Pastoral Counseling. Parker and his wife, Susanna, have two girls - Isabella (14) and Juliana (10).

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Abbey Latham

Former Ole Miss slugger Abbey Latham concluded out her first season an assistant coach with the UNCW Softball program in 2023.


Primarily working with Seahawk hitters, Latham oversaw four players finish the season with a .300 or better average, including Colonial Athletic Association Player of the Year Janel Gamache's team-high .364 mark to go with four home runs and 28 RBI. Gamache, who also earned All-CAA First-Team honors, was joined on the circuit's top team by outfielder Arial Pearce while junior second baseman Tayler Vitola ascended to All-Conference status for the first time in her career with a Second-Team nod.


UNCW notched 74 multi-hit games, led by Vitola's 16, in 2023 while 11 Seahawks combined for 37 multi-RBI efforts under Latham.


The Seahawks opened CAA play with a sweep of Towson in which it exploded for 32 hits over three games, the second-highest total in a three-game CAA series since joining the league in 2004.


Latham joined the defending Colonial Athletic Association champions after helping the Rebels make four NCAA Regional appearances as well as one Super Regional appearance from 2018-22.


As a player, Latham appeared in 237 games and made 212 starts for Ole Miss, batting .298 with 39 home runs with a Rebels career-record 167 RBI. She is tied for fourth in program history with 196 hits and holds a share of third all-time with 40 doubles.


With Latham in the heart of the order, the Rebels went 41-19 in 2022 and earned a trip to the Los Angeles Regional hosted by UCLA. The utility player led Ole Miss with 10 homers and 46 RBI while hitting .292 in her final season.


The Livingston, Ala., native, reset Ole Miss's single-season RBI record (54) as a sophomore. She paced the Rebels in home runs (10), doubles (13), slugging percentage (.559), and walks (22) as Ole Miss went 42-20 in 2019 and won the Oxford Regional to earn the school's second Super Regional.


Latham made an immediate impact for the Rebels when she arrived in 2018, smashing seven round-trippers in only 69 at-bats. She posted a .455 batting average in the NCAA Tempe Regional, with three homers, a pair of doubles, five RBI and three runs.


Latham broke into the coaching ranks last August as coach of the Bombers 08 Gold squad, an Elite Travel Fastpitch Softball team based in Atlanta, Ga.

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