Jill Fuduric completed her eighth season as the head softball coach at East Stroudsburg University during the 2014 season.
ESU made four straight conference tournament appearances from 2007-10 and finished third in the NCAA Division II Mid-Atlantic Regional in her first season in 2007.
Catcher Rebecca Smith was an All-PSAC East first team selection for the second straight year to highlight the 2014 season. ESU had three second team selections in junior first baseman Cara McNeil and pitchers Allison Mende, a sophomore, and Rachael Liguori, a freshman.
Smith, ESU's 2014 Women's Senior Scholar-Athlete of the Year, was also an All-PSAC selection and was an Academic All-American in 2013. Outfielder Sierra Wagner was the PSAC East Freshman of the Year. ESU posted an 18-20 record, a six-win improvement over the previous season and one victory from its first .500 season since 2008.
In 2012, senior 3B/DP Rachel Gieringer was the PSAC East Player of the Year and a Daktronics All-Region second team selection. The Warriors had two first team All-PSAC East selections in 2011 in senior DP Brittany Racek and senior OF Alicea Ashe. Both players were also named to the Daktronics All-Region second team and Racek was a second team NFCA All-Region selection.
The 2010 team included four All-PSAC East second team selections - Racek, Ashe, senior pitcher Jackie Battaglino and Gieringer, who was the 2009 PSAC East Freshman of the Year. Other all-conference selections in 2009 were Racek on the first team at shortstop, and second team catcher Amanda Feist.
ESU finished third in the division for three straight seasons, from 2008-10. In 2009, the Warriors lost a pair of one-run games, 2-1 and 1-0, to Bloomsburg in the PSAC tournament. They won five of their last eight regular season games to qualify for the postseason in 2008, where they blanked California 9-0 in the first round of the before falling 3-0 to Kutztown and 1-0 to Bloomsburg.
The Warriors set the school record for victories with a 29-28 campaign in 2007 and made their first PSAC Tournament appearance since 1981 after posting a 14-10 conference record. ESU opened its postseason appearance with a 1-0, eight-inning win over Edinboro, then lost 6-1 to No. 1 seed and tournament host Kutztown, and 3-2 to Bloomsburg.
The squad returned to Kutztown the following weekend for the NCAA Division II Mid-Atlantic Regional. The Warriors went 3-2 to finish third in the eight-team bracket, their highest-ever finish in an NCAA event.
ESU, the No. 4 seed, eliminated Kutztown with an 11-10 victory on the third day of the regional in a game that saw the lead change hands four times in the final two innings. Jess Schmoyer drove in the game-winning run in the bottom of the seventh and was named to the All-Regional team.
Fuduric also helped shortsop Jen Veronesi and second baseman Shannon Dietrich earn All-PSAC honors. Veronesi was a three-time All-PSAC and two-time All-Region player and set multiple single season and career records in her four years at ESU, including overall marks for hits, home runs, runs batted in, runs scored and stolen bases.
Pitcher Kristen Halvorsen was a key member of Fuduric’s first two teams at ESU. Halvorsen was the most-used pitcher in school history, graduating with records for innings pitched, games and games started, and won 29 games and threw 12 shutouts during her final two seasons as a Warrior. Battaglino was another top pitcher as a three-year starter in the circle and is in the top 10 in school history in five categories.
Gieringer, Racek and Ashe have been ESU's most productive offensive players in the program's recent history. Gieringer ranked in ESU's career top 10 in 10 categories from 2009-12, finishing second in home runs (17) and RBI (85), and was ESU's second-ever PSAC East Player of the Year as a senior.
Racek and Ashe had standout careers from 2007-10. Racek, a two-time All-Region and three-time All-PSAC selection, ranked in the Warriors' career top 10 in 13 categories, including second in doubles and extra-base hits and tied for second in home runs. She set the single-season record for slugging percentage during an injury-shortened 2010 season and missed parts of two seasons due to injury. Ashe set the single-season record with 10 home runs in 2010 and is tied with Racek with 14 career home runs.
Fuduric came to ESU after spending two seasons as an assistant coach at Lafayette College. The Leopards won 20 games in 2006 and played in the Patriot League Tournament for the first time in six years. Prior to coaching at Lafayette, Fuduric was an assistant for two seasons at the University of Rochester.
She was a four-year starter and letterwinner in her playing career at Allegheny College, where she was a member of two North Coast Athletic Conference championship teams. She was a co-captain her final two seasons and earned first team all-conference honors as a catcher and outfielder as a senior.
Fuduric earned her bachelor’s degree in economics from Allegheny and her master’s of science in educational leadership with an emphasis in higher education from the University of Rochester.
Jill Fuduric By the Numbers
• 143-209 (.406) record in eight seasons
• 4 straight PSAC playoff appearances from 2007-10
• placed third in NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional in 2007
• school record 29 wins in 2007
• 6 first team All-PSAC East selections - Rebecca Smith (C/At-Large, 2013; C, 2014), Rachel Gieringer (DP, 2012), Brittany Racek (SS, 2009; DP, 2011), Alicea Ashe (OF, 2011), Amanda Feist (C, 2008), Jen Veronesi (SS, 2007)
• 1 PSAC East Player of the Year (Gieringer, 2012)
• 1 PSAC East Freshman of the Year (Sierra Wagner, 2013)
• 1 NFCA All-Region selection (Racek, 2008 and 2011)
