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Cal grad coaches team to NCAA softball title

7 min read
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Sue Kunkle

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Courtest of Sue Kunkle

Sue Kunkle poses with the championship trophy with her parents, Marilyn and David.

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Celebrating with Sue Kunkle after Southern Indiana's championship in the NCAA Division II Softball World Series are: Sydney Kunkle, (niece), Morgan Kunkle (daughter), Dave (dad), Sue, Marilyn (mom), George and Jayne Lemon (aunt and uncle), Lynette (Punky) Kunkle (aunt). Back row: David Kunkle (brother), and Bob Kunkle (uncle).

Sue Kunkle just coached Southern Indiana to the NCAA Division II national softball championship for her 512th career victory. So what did the Bethel Park native do next?

No, she didn’t go to Disney World. She hopped in her car, jumped on the freeway and traveled from Evansville, Ind., to Chattanooga, Tenn., to recruit a player that could help her win the school’s second national title.

“It doesn’t end,” Kunkle said. “I do enjoy recruiting though,” she added even though this particular five-hour trip was elongated because of a massive accident on the interstate.

“I do absolutely love what I do and I hope I’m alive to see another 500 (victories).”

At age 46, and given the time frame (17 years) it took her to reach the milestone, Kunkle likely will reach 1,000 career wins and perhaps another national title or two.

“As long as my body will let me,” Kunkle said she would stay in the game.

Kunkle has played softball all her life, starting on the sandlots in Bethel Park, where her team reached the PIAA finals her freshman year in 1987. The 1990 graduate went on to become the winningest pitcher in the history of California University with a 54-12 career mark. The all-regional and all-conference performer led the Vulcans to three PSAC West championships, a regional banner and the school’s first appearance in the NCAA Division II College World Series.

During a summer camp while working as a volunteer assistant at Cal, she discovered coaching was her calling. It was a different form of education from her teaching career.

“Oh yes,” she said. “I dreamed of doing this. At camp, Cal put me at all these stations, coaching, hitting and pitching and I loved that. I realized coaching was what I wanted to do. I knew it was for me.”

After spending a year at Morehead State, she was named an assistant coach at her high school alma mater. Kunkle moved on to the University of Akron, developing some of the Zips’ best pitchers. She also coached two USA athletes International squads, one that finished first in Holland and the other that took third in Australia. She arrived at Southern Indiana in 2002, ready to challenge for Great Lakes Valley Conference championships and national titles.

“Each of those experiences was a stepping stone. I remember things from Moorehead State, Bethel Park and Akron that have helped me even though all those have been a long time ago. They all prepared me for this moment.”

We are family

Wherever she has roamed, the one constant for Kunkle has been family. All her life she has been supported by her parents, David and Marilyn, David, her brother who excelled as a third baseman on Bethel Park’s 1988 WPIAL championship and PIAA runner-up teams and her daughter, Morgan. The most recent addition is her five-month old granddaughter, Presley.

“I’m really big on building trust and developing relationships with my players,” Kunkle said. “Our whole program is based around relationships and family. We invest time in making sure players are happy.”

Kunkle said college sports is a business with a lot of laughs.

“My college experience was amazing,” she remembered. “I played with a national program. So I wanted to carry that over with me. We don’t scream and yell a lot. We are disciplined and structured. We want to win but are building memories, too.”

The Screaming Eagles made plenty of memories this past season. Compiling a 41-23 record, they got hot at the right time by winning 14 of their final 15 games, including going undefeated in the World Series. They swept Saint Anselm College, 4-0 and 8-3, in the best-of-three championship series

“We have been successful here but this is the icing on the cake,” Kunkle said of the school’s first national title.

It was also the first softball national championship won in the NCAA, NAIA, NJCAA or AIAW by a team from the state of Indiana.

“It’s a huge honor just to go (to the World Series). But to actually go there and win it is something you actually only dream about doing.”

After going 0-2 in last year’s World Series, the Screaming Eagles did dream of returning in 2018 but never imagined the struggles of getting back.

An slump early in the season barely put Southern Indiana in danger of qualifying for conference tournament. With a 27-22 regular-season record, they were seeded sixth in the GLVC tournament before sweeping it in four games to win a conference title. They captured the Midwest Region No. 1 tournament with a 3-1 mark before sweeping the University of Illinois Springfield in the Super Regional.

The Screaming Eagles won five straight games in the World Series, including wins over three nationally ranked teams.

“When you look at how our season progressed, you realize why this championship meant so much,” Kunkle said. “Everybody expected us to be tremendous out of the gate but we had to find the right pieces to the puzzle. We needed time to grow and learn each other because the dynamics of the team had changed.

“In the beginning of the season, we had mishaps and miscues, ups and downs, bad games and good games. Times where we weren’t playing great ball at all and you are left scratching your head as to what’s going on. How can a World Series team not make its own conference tournament? We kept the faith though and suddenly something happened. We found the team we were all along because we took the pressure off ourselves. We expected to be a World Series team from the start. We were just going to get there a different way. We didn’t have flashy stats, offensive numbers or records. We clawed our way there. The team was truly resilient. It refused to lose, displayed a lot of heart and a lot of grit. They had the desire to win and they were not going to be denied once they got there.”

Grit to keep going

Grit has gotten Kunkle to the top and promises to keep her there. While she employs two young assistant coaches, Kunkle continues to participate in drills during practice sessions. She even throws batting practice. There are days when she can’t pick her arm up but she does as much as she can.

“I don’t overdo it to the point where I can’t get out of bed,” she said with a chuckle. “I’m as active as I can be and do everything with them. As long as my body will let me, I’ll continue.”

Kunkle also continues to stay on top of the game. She attends clinics and studies the game at seminars.

“The game is quickly evolving and I’m still learning,” she said. “Sometimes, as a coach, you see a drill and say, ‘Oh my gosh, that is awesome, let’s do it.’ I am always eager to learn.”

Throughout all her years of coaching, Kunkle has learned the value of relationships. She said that is key for anybody thinking about going into the profession.

“You don’t do it for the money,” she said. “My advice really is for them to make sure you are building relationships because that is what the game and coaching are all about. It’s not winning. It’s about how you treat your players because if they don’t respect you, then you will not win more games. Everybody has their own style but I’m not a big fan of degrading players, screaming and hollering at them. I’m not that coach.”

But Kunkle is one thing, a championship-winning coach.

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