After being promoted from assistant to head coach of Trinity Softball last season, Bailey Wittenauer has been the face of a historic rebound after two straight losing seasons. Last season’s success was memorable for the number of wins — a program-record 31 — and the turnaround from previous seasons. Trinity saw 16 more wins when comparing the 2023 and 2024 records, the largest single-season turnaround in the program’s history.
Wittenauer’s success doesn’t just apply to the softball field, however. The former collegiate catcher talked about the success of last year, her journey through coaching and the joys — and challenges — of building a winning program at Trinity University.
Last year was your first as Trinity’s head coach, and the team got the most wins in program history. What was that experience like?
“Yeah, it was exciting, for sure, definitely a whirlwind. Came into the year excited about the incoming freshman class that we had recruited before, when I was [an] assistant. So we had a lot of expectations, but there were still a lot of unknowns overall. … Overall, I couldn’t be more pleased with the way that it ended, but now we’re [in] year two, wanting more.”
What got you into coaching, and what led you to Trinity?
“I got into coaching softball, really kind of accidentally, in college. I always knew that I wanted to coach, I just didn’t really know what level I wanted to coach. I just figured I would, you know, teach history or P.E. in high school and coach softball because it sounded fun. I ended up getting hurt my senior season in the fall, and that was before the transfer portal and all that goodness, so I still had a year of eligibility to use. I ended up transferring to a Division II school, the University of Indianapolis, and my coach gave me an opportunity to be a graduate assistant.
“I got to Trinity by fate. My wife is the softball coach at Incarnate Word. Literally on our move here, there was a job on the NCAA website for an assistant softball coach. I applied to that, and luckily got that. … I can’t say more than I’m just extremely lucky.”
What was the transition from player to coach like?
“I actually feel like the year after my playing career was really eye-opening for me as far as maturity. I worked for Alyssa Frost, and she runs a tight ship. It was kind of lonely, but at the same time, I was lucky to have been in a program where that was the expectation.”
Has your experience as a player helped you relate to or talk to players as a coach?
“Definitely, but there are a lot of differences. Social media and things like Instagram weren’t around when I was playing, for example. … I’ll draw on personal experiences, but try to keep an open mind as far as what they’re going through. I didn’t go to a school like Trinity. … I went to school to be a teacher, which is a great profession, but I didn’t have the academic rigor like y’all have here.”
What were some of the biggest challenges for you in your coaching career?
“My first time ever being a head coach was at Rockhurst University in Kansas City, a Division II private Catholic school. And a lot of people think that Catholic schools have a bunch of money. Well, this was not the case. I actually didn’t have a full-time assistant; I just had a graduate assistant, which made things really challenging because I felt like I was doing all the fieldwork by myself, planning practices, pretty much everything by myself. And then I come here, and we have everything that we could ever want. We have a full-time assistant [coach]; we have a grounds crew; we have nice equipment; we have a field that’s gorgeous.”
What’s the atmosphere like in the team?
“It’s something that we are constantly trying to cultivate. Culture is always important for us. When you come to our practice, we’re gonna have music on, we’re gonna be focused, but I also want them to have fun.”
What’s something you want to say to all of the readers?
“I think that for a while now, on campus, our softball team has gone under the radar, but this is a program that is highly competitive and on the rise. When you come to our games, you’re going to see an action-packed game — you’re going to see a lot of fast-moving parts, which I think is exciting to watch. And then also our girls on the team are good, solid people. So I think that we have a special team, and they should be the ones that should be recognized.”
