In 2013, Steve King is in his sixth season as head softball coach at his alma mater. He has a five-year record of 160-56 overall (.741 winning percentage) and 52-18 (.743) in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin with three NCAA Division III tournament appearances and three conference regular season championships.
In his five seasons he has coached 16 players who have been first team all-conference selections, including the league’s 2008, 2009, 2010 “Pitcher of the Year” Christy Engel, 2012 “Co-Pitcher of the Year” Molly McCready and the “Players of the Year” in 2008 (Allison Ward) and 2009 (Monica Urban). In 2012, McCready, Audra James, Courtney Martin and Allie Riordan were first team selections.
A 1984 Illinois Wesleyan University graduate who is a member of the Illinois Amateur Softball Association Hall of Fame, King was named IWU head softball coach in May 2008 after serving that season as the school's interim head coach.
In 2012, IWU finished 39-8 overall and 11-3 in the CCIW to take the conference championship title. The Titans advanced to the NCAA Division III Regional Tournament, only to fall to defending champ Linfield College, 6-2.
The Illiinois Wesleyan coaching staff shared the honor of 2012 CCIW "Coaching Staff of the Year" with league regular season co-champion Carthage.
The 2011 Titans finished 21-15 overall and 6-8 in the CCIW. It was the first time since 2005 the Titans did not participate in the CCIW postseason tournament.
King’s 2010 Titan squad was 33-16 and earned a berth into the NCAA Division III tournament as a result of claiming the CCIW tournament title for the second straight season. It was IWU’s fifth straight 30-win season and the 13
th since the 1991 team was the first to win 30. IWU was 3-2 in the NCAA regional.
The 2009 team was 37-6 and became the first team in league history to go undefeated (at 14-0) in CCIW play. The Titans also won three games in the NCAA Division III first round tournament.
King, who was the team’s hitting coach in 2007, led his 2008 squad to a 30-11 overall record, a 12-2 mark in the CCIW (good for a regular season championship) and an appearance in the NCAA Division III regional tournament.
A graduate of Normal (Ill.) Community High School, King had a glittering baseball career at IWU from 1981-84. His career .378 batting average is fifth best at the school and he ranks eighth in runs scored (121) and slugging percentage (.582), tied for second in triples (10), 16th in hits (154) and 18th with 100 runs batted in. His .410 batting mark in 1983 is 11th best at the school for a season and he is also 19th with his .393 average in 1982.
In 2005, King was inducted into the Illinois Amateur Softball Association Hall of Fame. His extensive softball background began after college, when he played for the Bloomington Hearts fastpitch team for many years before spending five seasons with The Farm of Madison, Wis. Over a period of a dozen years, King played on six different USA teams, playing on the United States squad in the Pan Am Games in 1991 (in Cuba) and 1999 (in Canada); in the World Games (in the Philippines); and competing in three Pan Am qualifier tournaments (in Argentina, Venezuela and Mexico).
King, who is employed full-time at Bloomington’s State Farm Insurance as a manager in the systems department, is married to Laurel and they are the parents of daughters Jamie and Emily.
Updated May 24, 2012
|
YEAR |
OVERALL |
CCIW |
|
2008 |
30-11 |
12-2 |
|
2009 |
37-6 |
14-0 |
|
2010 |
33-16 |
9-5 |
|
2011 |
21-15 |
6-8 |
|
2012 |
39-8 |
11-3 |
|
2013 |
32-11 |
11-3 |
|
totals |
192-67 (.741) |
63-21 (.750) |
