Don Kennedy returns for his seventh season as the head coach of the Lady Miner softball program and will look to get the Lady Miners back into the GLVC Tournament after a two year absence. He is 131-162 in his first six years at the helm of the softball program.
In 2012 he led S&T to a 15-38 mark, 12-24 in the GLVC's West Division. Kaylea Smith earned first team Capital One Academic All-District honors for her work on the field and in the classroom.
In 2011 the Lady Miners finished the season at 13-29 and went 8-16 in GLVC play. He had three players earn third team All-GLVC honors while Kate Runyan was named to the Capital One Academic All-District third team.
Missouri S&T earned a conference tournament berth for the seventh straight year in the 2009 season by winning five of its last six conference games, including a sweep over Rockhurst on the final day of the regular season. S&T had four players earn all-conference honors after the season and outfielder Emily Tucker was named to the All-Midwest region team for the third year in succession.
During the course of the year, the Lady Miners also played a doubleheader at the University of Missouri and led the Tigers -- who would later play in the Women's College World Series -- by two runs heading into the bottom of the fourth inning in game one.
The Lady Miners, who made their first-ever appearance at the NCAA Division II Tournament in 2007, went 26-21 and earned the third seed at the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament for the second year in a row. Missouri S&T was in contention for a berth to the regional tournament for the bulk of the season.
In addition, the program earned several top honors again as Kelsey Musselman was named as the GLVC's "Player of the Year" a season after Kandi Wieberg had earned the award. Those two players along with outfielder Emily Tucker were also named to the all-region team and all-conference first team following the 2008 season.
A strong finish to the season -- with wins in 13 of its last 19 regular season games -- that resulted in third place finishes in both the conference standings and Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament, helped land Missouri S&T into the Great Lakes Regional in Romeoville, Ill. in 2007. The Lady Miners then proceeded to win their first game in the tournament over host Lewis University before dropping the next two, the latter being a 13-inning loss to eventual regional runner-up Grand Valley State.
Missouri S&T finished the 2007 season with a record of 29-18, which included marks of 13-9 in GLVC play and a 5-2 mark against nationally ranked team. The Lady Miners swept Lewis when the Flyers were ranked seventh nationally and later split a twinbill over a Southern Illinois Edwardsville team that went on to win the NCAA Division II title. Missouri S&T handed the Cougars their final loss of the season with an 8-0 victory on April 22.
The successful season also helped Missouri S&T land its first All-America performers in school history, as second baseman Kandi Wieberg made the Daktronics team as a first-team selection and the NFCA's squad on the second team and outfielder Ashley Winter was named to the NFCA third team. Wieberg was also named as the GLVC's "Player of the Year" and "Student-Athlete of the Year" for the 2007 season and was one of three all-region performers along with Winter and outfielder Emily Tucker.
Through three seasons at Missouri S&T, Kennedy has posted a record of 76-67.
Kennedy came to Missouri S&T after spending 11 seasons assisting the successful softball team at the University of Central Missouri. A 1993 graduate of UCM with a bachelor's degree in physical education, Kennedy joined the Central staff as a volunteer assistant with the women's basketball program, then started working with the softball team in the 1995 season. He did the bulk of his work with the catchers and outfielders.
During his 11 years at Central, the Jennies posted a record of 369-208 (.640 winning percentage) and four regular season titles in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association.
Central also won the MIAA Tournament in 1995 and 1997 and went on to a second place finishes in the NCAA regional tournament in each of those years. It also finished second in two other MIAA Tournaments, including the 2004 event where it eliminated Missouri S&T in an 18-inning classic to reach the championship game.
Kennedy spent the 2001 season as the head coach at Hutchinson Community College before returning to UCM in 2002, where he assisted Rhesa Sumrell for her final five seasons as head coach before she retired following the 2006 season.
In addition to his coaching duties at Central, Kennedy was also in charge of the daily maintenance of the school's South Recreation complex where UCM's home field was located.
Kennedy, who has several years of experience as a player in men's fastpitch softball, also earned his master's degree at UCM in 1999.
