Foster Named Greenville Softball Head Coach

Foster Named Greenville Softball Head Coach

The Greenville College athletic department has selected Charles "Buddy" Foster, athletic director at Morthland College in West Frankfort, Ill., as its newest head softball coach.  Foster spent 16 years as a softball coach at four NCAA Division I institutions before spending the last year as athletic director at Morthland.

Foster's coaching career began in 1999 at Southern Illinois University Carbondale where he spent six seasons.  Three of those teams advanced to the NCAA national tournament, and the 2005 squad went to the Sweet Sixteen. 

Following his tenure at SIUC, he accepted the head softball position at Bradley University for the 2006 season and inherited a program coming off a 16-35 (3-23 Missouri Valley Conference) season.  The turnaround was immediate as the team went 25-23 (10-13 MVC) in his first season, and he accrued a record of 63-73 in three seasons.

After the stop at Bradley, he went to Kansas University as associate head coach for one season before four years as associate head coach at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.
He returned to SIUC in 2013 for two years as an assistant coach.
"We are very pleased to hire Buddy Foster as our newest head coach," said dean of athletics Doug Faulkner.  "In addition to his wealth of experience as an NCAA Division I softball coach, he was also a great student in our master's degree program in coaching. We look forward to seeing how he ties together faith and sport as he takes the reigns of our softball program."

Foster earned his master's degree from Greenville College in 2014.  He completed a bachelor's degree at Southeast Missouri State University in 1991. 

The softball program is coming off their first appearance in the NCAA national tournament as they were SLIAC tournament champions in May.  The team concluded the 2016 season with a record of  23-22-1.  The Lady Panthers have gone 77-53-1 since 2014 and have qualified for the SLIAC tournament championship game for three straight years.

STORY COURTESY OF GREENVILLE COLLEGE SPORTS INFORMATION

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