Griffith Named Gorlok Interim Softball Coach

Webster University Director of Athletics Scott Kilgallon today announced the hiring of Katie Griffith as the interim head softball coach at Webster University for the 2019 season. Griffith becomes the fifth head coach in the 22-year history of the program.
 
"I want to thank Scott (Kilgallon) for putting the future of Gorlok softball in my hands," Griffith said. "I'm so honored to be given the chance to lead this program and this group of young ladies and I could not be more thankful for this opportunity and I look forward to creating new successes for Webster University Softball."

Griffith, who was a three-year letterwinner as a pitcher at the University of Georgia from 2004-06, comes to Webster after working for the National Pitching Association, which is run by legendary pitching instructor Tom House. Along with working with the National Pitching Association, Griffith worked during the 2018 season as a Group Sales Executive with the Gateway Grizzlies, who is an independent baseball team that is a member of the Frontier League and plays its games at GCS Credit Union Ballpark in Sauget, Ill. GCS Credit Union Ballpark also serves as the home field for Webster's baseball team.

"We are excited to bring someone with Katie's background and experience on board as our softball coach," Kilgallon said. "She is a perfect fit to help us transition into the upcoming season and also provide our program with some new insights as we look to take our program to new heights."

Griffith moved the St. Louis area in the spring of 2017 to continue training as a baseball pitcher with Grizzlies and while she trained with the Grizzlies, she worked in the team's front office doing stadium operations, as well as, marketing and promotions. 

The new Webster coach picked up baseball in October of 2016 while living in California and serving as the program head coach (2016-17) for the Harvard-Westlake School in Studio City, Calif.

When she moved to California from Georgia, Griffith met House, who was a former pitcher for the Atlanta Braves and is known as the premier pitching coach in the United States and now runs the National Pitching Association. Among House's pupils as a pitching coach was MLB Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan.  

After learning how to pitch and working on her mechanics with House, Griffith took the next step in her journey to become a baseball pitcher as she was the first women to play in the California Winter League in the winter of 2017. The California Winter League is an instructional baseball league for players hoping to catch the attention of a coach or scout and land a contract as an affiliated or independent pro contract. 

It was at the CWL that Griffith caught the attention of Grizzlies owner, Rich Sauget, who invited her to work in the team's front office and train as she pursued her dream of pitching in professional baseball. 

During her one season working at Harvard-Westlake, which is one of the premier private middle and high schools in the country, Griffith was involved with all aspects of the school's entire softball program for both the middle and high school. While at Harvard-Westlake, she hired the coaching staffs for all the teams and was a direct liaison between the program and college coaches for recruitment of their players. 

Along with coaching and training to become a baseball pitcher, Griffith also operated an indoor training facility for girls' softball players for three years in El Segundo, Calif., and also helped out on the board of local softball league in her Southern California community.

Griffith, who is a Georgia native, lettered for three years as a pitcher in softball at the University of Georgia and in her time as a Bulldog, she played in three NCAA Tournaments, including an appearance in the Super Regionals in 2005 and was part of Georgia program that posted a 164-47 record from 2004-06. Was a member of the school's 2005 Southeastern Conference championship team and also was a member of the school's 2006 SEC East Division team and was a two-time member of the SEC Academic Honor Roll (2005, 2006). 

In her playing career, ranks in the Top 10 in numerous pitching categories at Georgia as she is seventh in career saves (7), ninth in career strikeouts (389), starts (71), complete games (33) and 10th in career wins (36), appearances (88), shutouts (15) and opponents' batting average (.219). Recorded three saves in 2006, which is fifth on the school's single-season chart. In addition, Griffith tossed the first-ever perfect game in Georgia history in 2004 against Appalachian State and then tossed another perfect game in 2004 against Alabama State. 

Griffith, a native of Conyers, Ga., graduated from Georgia in 2007 with a bachelor's degree in journalism. 

Griffith takes over a Gorloks softball program that has won eight regular season St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championships, four SLIAC Tournament titles and has made seven appearances all-time in the NCAA Division III Tournament, including finishing as regional runner-up in 2009. Last season, Webster went 18-17 and finished fourth in the SLIAC with a 12-6 record and they return six starters in 2019 from last year's team. Among the key starters returning is junior utility player Abby Burroughs (Edwardsville, Ill./Triad), who is a two-time Second-Team All-SLIAC performer.  

STORY COURTESY OF WEBSTER UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION