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John Lechler – Director of Softball Operations
John played baseball through college attending Livingston University in Alabama as a pitcher and first baseman. Since his playing days, he has coached various levels of baseball, softball, football, and basketball. John was a head coach for 11 seasons in LLGSL Juniors and Minors as well as two seasons for a short season summer travel team. He has been an assistant coach in the Ashburn Shooting Stars organization and was part of the 2001 10 & under Pony National Champions and the 2002 12 & under Pony National 3rd place team. John has also been an assistant and head coach in Dulles Little League as well as coaching a local travel team.
Megan Smith - Director of Hitting
Megan graduated from Park View High School in 2002 and completed her career as the Patriots won the AA State Championship. She was a four time first team All-District and All-Loudoun Extra member, a three time first team All-Region and All-State selection, and a three time All-Met player. She played four years of Division I softball at James Madison University where she held the school record for doubles until 2008. In 2006, she was named to the Academic All-American team. After completing her career at JMU, Megan helped coach the Turner Ashby High School softball team and the Smashing Apples travel team. She then spent three years as the Head Varsity Coach at Heritage High School and is now the Head Varsity Coach at Tuscarora High School in Leesburg.
Chris Starke - Senior Hitting Instructor
Chris is getting ready to start his sixth season as the varsity assistant softball coach at Briar Woods High School and owns over a decade of softball coaching experience at the high school, college, travel and little league levels. He has helped build Briar Woods from a two-win team in 2007 to a State Championship team in 2011. Chris began his coaching career in 1999 as the assistant at Shepherd (W.Va.) University, where he served for two seasons. He worked with the hitters and outfielders, coordinated recruiting efforts, and ran the Shepherd Softball Hitting Clinics. He then became the head coach at Frostburg State (Md.) University for two-plus seasons. In his first year (2003), he was named the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) Coach of the Year. In his second season, he was voted the AMCC Co-Coach of the Year after guiding the Bobcats to a school-record 26-14 finish, the AMCC regular-season title, and a second-place showing at the AMCC Tournament. The team advanced to the Eastern College Athletic Conference Tournament, the first post-season bid in the program’s history, and set 28 school records.
Angela Hufford - Senior Hitting Instuctor
Angela graduated from South Lakes High School in 1997. She was a four year Varsity player while setting school records in innings and games played as well as on-base percentage. She signed to play at West Liberty State College before her career was ended due to injury. Since graduating, Angela has coached youth teams in Reston in addition to being the Head JV Coach at South Lakes.
Jennifer Buckley - Senior Pitching Instructor
Jennifer has quickly become one of our top pitching instructors. She attended Pine Forest High School in Florida and was a four time All-District and two time All-State pitcher. She went on to pitch for Stetson University where she was selected to the Atlantic Sun Conference second team as a freshman and first team as a sophomore and junior. Jennifer still holds school and conference records for ERA (1.16) and opponents batting average against (.098). She spent her senior year at the University of West Florida were she was the Gulf South Conference Pitcher of the Year and was named to the Louville Slugger Division II All-South Region team. She also was named Pitcher of the Week five times.
Brittany Gardner - Senior Pitching Instructor
Brittany comes to us after a very successful and highly decorated playing career. She graduated from Park View High School in 2006 where she was a three time first team All-District, two time first team All-Region, and a first team All-Met selection. She was named the Dulles District Player of the Year and Outstanding Female Athlete of the Year at PVHS her senior year. Brittany went on to pitch for Syracuse University where she left as the all time leader in saves. She is second in wins, appearances, starts, complete games, and innings pitched and only the fourth pitcher to strike out more than 400 hitters. She was a two time Big East Pitcher of the Week and on the Big East All-Academic Team in 2009.
Ken Blewitt - Hitting Instructor
Ken played baseball at Eastern Kentucky University where he was a first team All-Ohio Valley Conference player. He went on to play professionally in the Chicago Cubs organization and then coached college baseball for 12 years at Lackawanna College. Ken was inducted into the NE Chapter Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame. He has coached softball travel teams from ages 12 through 18 including finishing 7th in the NSA Nationals with the 16U Blue Magic from Charlotte, NC. His daughter just graduated from the University of Alabama where she played for four years.
Kaity Wagner - Hitting Instructor
Kaity graduated from Loudoun County High School in 2005 where she played second base for the Raiders. She grew up playing for the Baseliners, Loudoun Storm, and Shooting Stars organizations. She continued her career at Frostburg State University as a four year starter where she played both second base and shortstop. During her career at Frostburg, Kaity started 150 games, fourth in the school’s history and had 265 assists, second in the school’s history. She had an overall batting average of .314 during her career. For the past two years, she has coached at Freedom High School as the JV Head Coach and volunteered with the Inferno organization. Kaity is currently the Freedom High School Varsity Head Coach for the Spring 2012 season.
Nicole Pitcock - Pitching Instructor
Nicole followed Brittany Gardner at Park View High School in the line of dominating pitchers in the area. She was a two time All-District and All-Region selection as well as an All-Met player in 2007. She also received the Most Outstanding Athlete Award at Park View her senior year. Nicole continued her career at Shepherd University where she was a four year starter. She holds numerous individual records including most victories in a season (23), most victories in a career (57), most strikeouts in a season (187), most strikeouts in a career (443), and most strikeouts in a game (15). Nicole was a two time All-WVIAC first team selection, a two time Louisville Slugger All-Region first team selection, and a two time Honorable Mention All-American. She became the first player in Shepherd history to receive All-American honors.
Cara Blevins - Pitching Instructor
Cara graduated from Bishop O’Connell High School in 2004. She was named the WCAC Player of the Year in 2003 and 2004 and was a three time first team All-Met selection. Cara was the Arlington County Softball Player of the Year and the Bishop O’Connell HS Player of the Year in 2004. She played in the Baseliners and Shamrocks organizations growing up. She received a full scholarship from Temple University but her career ended during her freshman year with a shoulder injury.
Janet Fairchild - Pitching Instructor
Janet graduated from Stone Bridge High School in 2004 where she pitched and played outfield. She grew up playing softball in the Loudoun County area for the Sterling Silver, Fire & Ice, Red Birds, and Baseliners. Janet went on to play for Christopher Newport University. During her four years at CNU, she was a first team All-State pitcher and the Pitcher of the Year in the USA South conference. During her 2007, season she had only one loss and allowed only 12 extra base hits while pitching to 417 batters. Today Janet is still listed as one of the top players all time in CNU’s record books.
Holly Schonberger - Hitting / Catching Instructor
Holly graduated from Oakton High School where she was a four year starter at catcher. She was named to the first team All-District, second team All-Region, and honorable mention All-Met teams during her tenure. She went on to play for Lynchburg College but her career ended after her freshman year due to injury. Holly has since pursued a coaching career and has spent her time with the 16U Fire and Ice and 18U Baseliners. She has also been a Varsity assistant at Oakton HS and is currently a Varsity assistant at Westfield HS.
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