Washington University in St. Louis

Washington University Dept of Athletics
Campus Box 1067 One Brookings Drive St Louis, MO 63130

Division 3 Missouri Midwest

Private Medium Developing team

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Coaches

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Casey Cromwell

Casey Cromwell was announced as the fourth head coach in WashU softball history on September 15, 2022.

In her first year at the helm, Cromwell's Bears finished with a 20-18 record which included a sweep of UAA opponent Emory. Katie Gould was named the UAA Position Player of the Year, which marked the second-straight year the Bears received this honor. Gould also received a first team nod after finishing the season with a .406 batting average, 52 hits, five triples, two doubles, 12 RBi, 64 bases and 11 stolen bases in 14 attempts. She went on to earn National Fastpitch Coaches Association Region VIII Second Team honors.

Additionally, Holly Stoner was named All-UAA first team while Erin Reardon and Jordan Rossi both picked up All-UAA Second Team honors. Academically, five Bears - Maggie Baumstark, Katie Gould, Payton Irwin, Natalia Pilpil, Tami Wong - were named to the College Sports Communicators All-District team. A total of 17 softball players picked up Academic All-UAA honors.

Prior to WashU, Cromwell spent five seasons as the head coach at nearby Fontbonne University where she has steadily increased the success of the Griffins' program, culminating in a 2022 SLIAC title and the program's first appearance in the NCAA Tournament since 2015. Additionally, in 2022, the Griffins led all of Division III in double plays per game with .61.

During Cromwell's tenure at Fontbonne, she coached 21 SLIAC all-conference selections and 47 NFCA all-academic honorees. The Griffins participated in over 300 hours of community engagement per year and held a grade-point average above 3.5.

Off the field, Cromwell was the SAAC leader for the University, taught classes in sports management, and served as a member of the Diversity and Inclusion and Mental Health Committees, the Fontbonne Diversity and Inclusion representative in the SLIAC, the SLIAC Chair Representative and the Regional Advisory Committee representative for the SLIAC.

Prior to her time at Fontbonne, Cromwell began her coaching career at Indiana-Purdue Fort Wayne (IPFW) where she served as a graduate assistant for two years, focusing on the team's defense, assisting with strength and conditioning workouts, practice plans, mental training, statistics, winter workouts, team travel and hitting clinics. Cromwell also handled the team's equipment and uniform orders, field maintenance and team retreats. During her time there, she helped improve fielding percentage from .916 in 2015 to .943 in 2017.

Cromwell began her playing career at Weatherford College in Texas where she played third base and was an all-conference and all-region selection with a .378 average, 13 doubles, 13 home runs and 45 RBI. She went on to play her final three years at Lamar University in Texas, where she played second and third base, earning all-conference honors. Cromwell finished her career as the leader in home runs (19), RBI (69), doubles (21), and hit by pitch (29).

Cromwell holds a bachelor's degree in exercise science with a minor in kinesiology from Lamar and obtained her master's degree in organizational leadership and supervision from IPFW in 2017.

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Melissa "Skeeter" Gentile

Melissa “Skeeter” Gentile (pronounced gin-TIL-ee) joins the WashU coaching staff and brings with her 10 years of DI coaching experience with her last stop being at Eastern Michigan University.

As the head coach at Eastern Michigan University, Gentile coached EMU to one of its best campaign’s during the 2016 season. As a team in 2016, the Eagles pieced together one of the best offensive seasons in EMU history. The Green and White scored 203 runs, the second-most in Eastern Michigan history, and pounded out 69 doubles, the most since 2007. In the circle, the Eagles’ pitching staff posted the team’s best ERA since 2012 while each hurler set career-highs in strikeouts. EMU’s on-the- field success carried over to the classroom where the Green and White set a program record with 12 Academic All-MAC selections. The 12 honorees also ranked as the most in the conference.

In 2015, EMU broke the single season home run record after launching the ball over the fence on 41 occasions. In addition, the 2015 roster recorded the second-most hits all-time with 366, while it added 181 runs batted in, good for the fourth-best in school history. Academically, Gentile’s squad put eight student-athletes on the Academic All-MAC squad, while she two players to the MAC’s prestigious Distinguished Scholar Athlete list. . In her first season at EMU, she improved the Eagles’ batting average from last in the conference to sixth overall and had two rank among conference leaders in every offensive category.

Gentile, who is also a nationally recognized speaker and clinician, has spent the last four years running some of the largest collegiate softball tournaments in the country. Although Gentile is widely known on the softball field, she is also a highly accomplished life and business coach of the field. As the owner of Make It Happen Life Coaching, she has been able to impact the lives of her clients on an exceptional level earning International Coaching Federation (ICF) accolades.

In her playing career, Gentile was a four-year letterwinner for the University of Michigan and finished her tenure as the career (28) and single-season (13) home run record holder. A co-captain in 2000, she earned All-Big Ten, All-Region and All-America honors in 1998 and was the Big Ten Conference Freshman of the Year in 1997.

Gentile participated in two Women’s College World Series at Michigan, placing fifth in both 1997 and 1998 and was named to the Women’s College World Series All-Tournament Team in 1997. Along with the Big Ten Freshmen of the Year honor, Gentile earned second-team All-Big Ten accolades in 1997 as well as first-team All-Big Ten and All-Region accolades as a sophomore.

Gentile also went on to play with the USA Women’s National Team from 1996-2000 and was a member of the USA Pan-American Team in 1997 before graduating from Michigan in 2000 with a bachelor’s degree in kinesiology. She continued her playing career in the Women’s Professional Softball League (now the National Pro Fastpitch League) after being drafted by the Akron Racers in 2000. She also earned her master’s in athletic administration from Central Michigan in 2005.

A native of Wentzville, Mo., Gentile played softball at Wentzville High School (Holt) where her jersey has been retired.

Gentile and her wife, Courtney, have four daughters, Hope, Tatum, Bailee, and Addison.