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Yale University

Yale Athletic Department
 P.O. Box 208216 - 20 Tower Parkway New Haven, CT 06511
Division 1 Connecticut Northeast
Private Medium Competitive team
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Coaches

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Laura Ricciardone

Laura Ricciardone was announced as the head coach of Yale University’s softball program on May 9, 2022. Ricciardone first joined the Bulldogs’ staff as an assistant coach in June of 2019. She primarily worked with the pitchers, infielders and team defense.


In just her first season at the helm, Riccardone led Yale to a berth in the inaugural 2023 Ivy League Postseason Tournament as the No. 3 seed. Libby Peoples, Lauren Perren and Alex Perren earned First Team All-Ivy honors, while Sam Goodcase and Maddie Latta earned honorable mention accolades. It was the first time since 2017 that the Bulldogs had five All-Ivy award winners. It was also the first time since 2003 that Yale has had three players selected First Team All-Ivy.


In the spring of 2021, Ricciardone worked with Kelly Kretchman and Kyla Holas on the Team USA Training Camp staff while the USA Olympic Coaching Staff remained with their college programs. Ricciardone assisted in executing practices, training camp and exhibition games during the pandemic-extended training year for Team USA, which went on to win a Silver Medal at the Tokyo Olympic Games.


Prior to joining Yale, Ricciardone was the assistant coach, recruiting coordinator and camp director for Ken Eriksen at the University of South Florida. In her three years with the Bulls, the program captured the American Athletic Conference (AAC) regular season title in 2018 and 2019 and won NCAA Regional games in both 2018 and 2019. In addition, USF was selected as the American’s Coaching Staff of the Year in both 2018 and 2019. During her tenure, she coached an All-American, and an AAC Rookie, Pitcher and Defensive Player of the Year.


Prior to South Florida, Ricciardone spent one season as an assistant coach at Boston University where she helped lead the Terriers to the Patriot League Championship and an NCAA Regional appearance. She also mentored the 2016 Patriot League Pitcher of the Year.


As a pitcher at Harvard, Ricciardone earned All-Ivy League honors in all four seasons with the Crimson, including first team honors in 2014 and 2015 when she also was named to the NFCA Northeast Region third team.


Ricciardone led the Crimson to a pair of Ivy League championships (2011, 2012), was a two-time team captain and earned NFCA All-America Scholar Athlete honors twice.


Ricciardone earned a BA in psychology from Harvard in 2015 and holds a Master of Business Administration from South Florida in 2018.

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Lex Debrosse

Lex Debrosse joined the Yale Softball staff in the fall of 2021 and was promoted to the top assistant coach to head coach Laura Ricciardone in the spring of 2022.


In her first season at Yale, Debrosse worked with the outfielders and hitters. She helped mentor Sam Goodcase, who led the Ivy League in batting, and Maddie Latta at the plate. Both earned All-Ivy recognition.


Debrosse joined Yale after spending three years as a volunteer assistant at her alma mater Central Connecticut, helping the Blue Devils to 41 victories (the 2020 season was limited to four games due to the Covid-19 pandemic).


As an undergraduate, Debrosse was a four-year starter at shortstop and a two-year team captain. She had a .460 slugging percentage in her senior season, and as a first year, made 42 starts in 43 games and was named Northeast Conference Rookie of the Week three times. She finished her career with a .263 average, 20 home runs and 90 RBIs. She also totaled 33 stolen bases and had a .447 slugging percentage.


Debrosse, who was raised in New Bedford, Mass., is a 2018 graduate of Central Connecticut where she majored in criminology and minored in business management. She also holds a master’s degree in criminal justice from Central Connecticut.

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Sierra Lange

Sierra Lange joined the Yale Softball staff as an assistant coach in July 2023.


Lange enjoyed a massively successful playing career at George Washington University. She helped lead the Buff and Blue to two Atlantic-10 Championship titles and two regular-season crowns. Lange was also part of a defense that broke the program record for fielding percentage, which fared well at the national level, ranking them in the top 10 in Division I. Along the way, she also garnered a plethora of individual accolades in her four seasons at GWU.


Among those awards are:

NFCA Third Team All-American

NFCA First Team All-Mid-Atlantic Region (2019, 2021, 2022)

2x Atlantic 10 Pitcher of the Year (2021, 2022)

First Team All-Atlantic 10 (2019, 2021, 2022)

All-Atlantic 10 Championship Team (2019, 2022)

Atlantic-10 Most Outstanding Player of the Championship (2021)

All-NISC Liberty Regional Team (2019)

NCAA Woman of the Year nominee

Atlantic-10 All-Rookie Team (2018)


She was the program's first-ever three-time First Team All-Region selection, second-ever All-American, and the first player in a decade to win back-to-back A-10 Pitcher of the Year awards. Lange finished her career as the program's all-time leader in every major pitching category. She was also a major offensive contributor, tying the program's career triples record.


An A-10 All-Academic Team and A-10 Commissioner's Honor Roll selection, Lange earned a degree in organizational science with a minor in psychology. She also holds a master's degree in management and a graduate certificate in project management.


Raised in Plano, Texas, Lange has represented the Philippines internationally at the Asia/Oceania Olympic Qualifying Tournament, the World Cup of Softball, and the Junior World Championships.


Outside of softball, Lange spent time as a graduate assistant at the Honey W. Nashman Center for Civic Engagement and Public Service. She worked in the database sector and served as the point person for the service platform. She was also responsible for onboarding and training community partners, students, and faculty.

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