Chastain Joins Softball Staff
7/20/2016 12:00:00 AM | Softball
East Lansing, Mich. -- - Michigan State softball coach Jacquie Joseph has announced the addition of Ashley Chastain to the Spartan coaching staff. Chastain joins Joseph and second-year assistant Kaela Jackson for the upcoming 2017 season.
Chastain will work with the Spartan pitchers, as well as be actively involved with recruiting, scouting, and all game preparation. She replaces Jessica Bograkos, who recently retired from coaching after 10 years on Joseph's staff at her alma mater.
"Ashley Chastain is a rising star in our profession, and comes from an incredibly strong coaching tree and competitive background," notes Joseph. "She played for and coached with Beverly Smith at South Carolina, and most recently was the pitching coach at the College of Charleston, where she worked for Linda Kalafatis, who has more than 900 victories and is a former coach at Ohio State. She is an incredibly talented young coach with an infectious enthusiasm, and we're excited to bring her into our program."
"I would like to thank Jacquie Joseph and the Michigan State athletic administration for this incredible opportunity," said the newest Spartan coach. "It is truly an honor to work for such a highly-respected figure in our sport and someone who is soon to be inducted into the NFCA Hall of Fame. I am excited to be a part of the Spartan softball program, to lead our pitching staff in pursuit of being a NCAA national powerhouse, and competing to be at the top of the Big Ten."
In three seasons as the pitching coach at the College of Charleston under Kalafatis, Chastain helped the Cougars to a record of 99-68, with a record of 35-23 in 2016. The 2016 team proved to be one of the finest in program history, with school records in fielding percentage (.974), and errors (42). Under Chastain's tutelage, the CofC pitching staff posted the eighth lowest opponent batting average in program history (.242), and the ninth fewest runs allowed with 191. Four CofC players picked up Second Team All-CAA honors under her tutelage, and three earned NFCA All-Region honors.
The College of Charleston won 24 games in 2015, and posted a record of 40-16 in 2014. Under the guidance of Chastain and the Cougar coaching staff, pitcher Hope Klicker earned All-CAA First team honors in 2014. The College's pitching staff has set number of top-10 pitching marks under Chastain, including the second and third most strikeouts per seven innings, with 5.90 in 2014, and 5.89 in 2015, and had the fourth fewest walks per seven innings (1.83) in 2014.
Chastain served as a graduate assistant coach at South Carolina in 2011-12 after her three-year playing career as a Gamecock, where she was a teammate of Kaela Jackson.
The newest Spartan assistant also brings international experience, both as a player and an instructor. She was an international member of the Wesseling Vermin's softball club of the German Softball Federation. She helped lead the team to numerous accolades and championships, most recently a national championship at the highest level in German softball in 2013. Chastain was named the Most Valuable Player of the championship series.
While abroad, she also served as a pitching coach for the German National Team as well as the coach of a junior team within the Wesseling Vermin's softball club. She developed pitching workouts and designed practices in order to prepare players to compete at their highest potential for the 2013 European Championship.
Chastain has also served as an instructor for Higher Ground Softball out of her native state of Georgia since 2008, teaching physical fundamentals and mental aspects to young students of the game.
A member of the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA), Chastain is the co-founder of Assistant Coach University, an organization based solely on assistant coach curriculum, which launched at the NFCA Convention in 2015. Chastain received her bachelor's degree in history with a minor in secondary education (2011) and her master's in secondary education (2012) from South Carolina.