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NEW SOFTBALL COACH

Former Pitching Coach to Guide UVa-Wise Softball
June 8, 2004

WISE, VA - The UVa-Wise softball team set a new school record for wins in 2004, won its second Appalachian Athletic Conference regular season title in three years and made its fourth consecutive trip to the Region XII championships.

Next spring, the team returns seven starters including two all-conference performers, a fact that again will generate high expectations well before the team takes to the diamond in 2005.

Tori Raby-Gentry will be the person in charge of leading the talented group of players. The former Tennessee Wesleyan College pitching standout accepted the head coaching position late last week.

"Tori is someone who brings a lot of positives to the College and its softball program," UVa-Wise Athletics Director Ray Spenilla said. "She played and excelled in the Appalachian Athletic Conference and is familiar with the conference's teams and coaches. Her experience as both a head coach and an assistant at the college level has shown her to be an excellent teacher and proven leader of student athletes."

Raby-Gentry spent last season at NCAA Division II Presbyterian (S.C.) College coaching pitchers and catchers. The Blue Hose won 48 games last season and captured the South Atlantic Conference championship. Raby-Gentry's pitching staff recorded a 1.80 ERA and played a major role in the team's success.

Before her coaching stint at Presbyterian, Raby-Gentry served a year as head coach at St. Catherine College in Kentucky, guiding the Lady Patriots to their first winning season with a school-best 26-18 mark.

Raby-Gentry served two years as an assistant coach at Motlow State Community College in Lynchburg, Tenn., before taking the head position at St. Catherine.

At UVa-Wise, Raby-Gentry also will serve as part of the teaching faculty in the College's new physical education major. She begins work at the College in late June.

The tough competition in the AAC will be nothing new to Raby-Gentry. The Fayetteville, Tenn., native excelled as a pitcher at Tennessee Wesleyan. She posted a 20-9 record as a senior at TWC and was named conference player of the year. She was named first team all-region during her last two seasons at Tennessee Wesleyan.

Raby-Gentry earned a bachelor's degree at Tennessee Wesleyan in 2000 and completed a master's degree in physical education at Middle Tennessee State University in 2001.

The new Cavaliers coach succeeds UVa-Wise interim coach Jimmy Mitchell, who took over the head position after Wayne Leftwich resigned the post April 1. Leftwich led the Cavaliers to a quick 15-3 start before leaving midway through his fourth season.

Mitchell, who had served as Leftwich's assistant since the beginning of the 2003 season, posted a 24-7 record as interim coach. The Cavaliers finished the season 39-10.