Healy names Schneider and Adix as softball assistant coaches
August 09, 2010 | Softball
Aug. 9, 2010
MADISON, Wis. -- Wisconsin softball coach Yvette Healy has rounded out her first Badger coaching staff, choosing Randy Schneider and Tracie Adix (ODD-ix) to be her assistants, Healy announced Monday.
Schneider served as the head coach at Valparaiso for the past seven seasons, leaving as the program’s all-time winningest coach. The Crusaders enjoyed winning seasons in each of the past four years and won 20 or more games in six of Schneider’s seven seasons after reaching the mark just three times in the program’s first 22 years.
“I am thrilled to have Randy Schneider join the Wisconsin softball family,” Healy said. “He is one of the most innovative, enthusiastic, and respected coaches in our game. His ability to teach and mentor young athletes has made him one of the top recruiters in the country. Randy is best known for identifying and attracting elite Gold players from the West Coast, to blossom and excel in a supportive Midwest, family environment.
“The program will immediately become more successful on the field, in the community and in the classroom under Randy's leadership. I'm thrilled to have a coach and person of his caliber join the Badger softball family.”
Schneider was named the Horizon League Co-Coach of the Year in 2008 after his team, which was in its first year in the conference, finished in second place. In 2009, he led the Crusaders to a school-record 35 wins and a third-place finish at the Horizon League Championship. In addition, Schneider had 26 players awarded All-League honors and guided the program’s first NFCA All-Region honoree in 2010.
“I’m really excited,” Schneider said. “It's a wonderful opportunity to work for Wisconsin and to have the opportunity to work with Yvette. She is an outstanding softball coach and is poised to do great things. Obviously it's pretty exciting for myself and my family.”
Off the field, Schneider’s teams proved successful as well, boasting 36 NFCA Scholar-Athletes, eight CoSIDA Academic All-District honorees and the program’s first Academic All-American in over 20 years. In the community, he helped the softball program start the “I Need a Hug” initiative, a program run by the softball student-athletes which in its six years of existence has grown exponentially and has placed many thousands of stuffed animals into local schools.
Adix spent the past three seasons as pitching coach at South Dakota State after making the transition from player to coach. She joined the South Dakota State coaching staff in 2008 after a standout pitching career at DePaul that included a run deep into the Women’s College World Series in 2007.
“I am absolutely thrilled and honored to work with Yvette and Randy,” Adix said. “I’ve known Yvette for nine years as she recruited me to DePaul, and I even played for her in my freshman year. Knowing what Yvette and Randy have done and the influence they have in Division I softball, they’re two people I can learn a lot from. I’m excited to be able to work in a great conference like the Big Ten. I think it will be a lot of fun.”
DePaul’s fourth ever run to the WCWS came, in large part, on the right arm of Adix, who went a perfect 10-0 in Big East Conference play, and did not walk a batter in 22 appearances (108 innings), all while holding conference opponents to a .160 batting average.
For the season, the Edmonds, Wash., native finished with a 22-4 overall record, including wins over seven ranked opponents, and the nation’s fifth best earned run average at 0.89. She threw a total of ten shutouts and struck out 168 batters, while walking just 28.
In the post season alone, Adix combined on a no-hitter at the Carbondale Regional, striking out the side in two innings pitched against Mississippi Valley State and tossed a complete game shutout against Missouri in the semifinals.
She followed that up with 11 scoreless innings at the Super Regional in Norman, Okla., scattering three hits and striking out six Oklahoma batters to earn the victory in both games over the fourth-ranked Sooners, a team that entered the tournament averaging 6.8 runs a game and with a .324 team batting average.
All told, Adix went 6-2 in the NCAA championship, and did not allow a run in her first 23 and two-thirds innings during the NCAA Championship. The eventual national champion Arizona Wildcats ended DePaul’s season in the quarterfinal round.
“Tracie is one of the most highly decorated and successful Division I pitchers currently teaching the game,” Healy said. “While Tracie's athletic accolades, from pitching her team to two College World Series, being named an NFCA All-American and boasting one of the of the lowest ERA's in the country is impressive, it is her mental toughness, work-ethic and commitment to excellence that separates her from her peers.
“Tracie has the personal experience, coaching expertise and competitive minframe to help the University of Wisconsin's pitchers earn national attention.”
Along with being named the Blue Demon’s Most Outstanding Player, Adix earned Big East Pitcher-of-the-Year honors, and took home National Fastpitch Coaches Association Second-Team All-American and NFCA First-Team All-Mideast Region honors in 2007. She also earned NFCA Second-Team All-Region honors in 2005.
