Courtesy of George Washington Athletics
WASHINGTON – George Washington head softball coach Stacey Schramm announced on Monday that former Georgia standout Laura Trout will join the Colonials’ staff as an assistant coach.
“Laura Trout has all of the qualities that I was looking for in an assistant coach,” said Coach Schramm. “She was an All-American on the field as well as an Academic All-American and finished her collegiate career playing at the highest level. More important than her accolades, however, are the intangibles which cannot be found on her résumé; she has a calming presence, a love for the game and an ability to instruct. We recruit student-athletes from high-level programs and regions, and it was important to me to find someone who can assist in continuing the upward trend of improvement in our players. Learning never stops in our program, and Coach Trout will help provide a higher level of instruction to ensure that our student-athletes leave GW as better softball players.”
Trout played two seasons at the University of Georgia from 2010-11, helping lead the Bulldogs to a pair of Women’s College World Series Super Regional appearances, including the 2010 Final Four when UGA finished the season ranked third in the nation. After hitting eight home runs and driving in 29 in her first season in Athens, Trout hit .348 and scored 25 runs as a senior in 2011 and finished her two-year career with 29 stolen bases and 60 runs scored. The Bulldogs’ starting shortstop, she was named her team’s Best Defensive Player in 2010 and received the Bulldog award in 2011.
Prior to Georgia, Trout played on two NJCAA World Series teams at Spartanburg Methodist College in Spartanburg, South Carolina, where she hit over .470 in both of her seasons for the Pioneers and led her team to a top-five finish in the nation in 2008. A two-time NJCAA All-American, Trout was named Region X Most Valuable Player and an Academic All-American in 2009. She finished her two-year junior college career with 16 doubles, 12 triples, 19 home runs, 71 RBIs and 71 runs scored.
After serving as a student assistant coach at Georgia in 2012 while completing her degree and helping the Bulldogs back to the Super Regionals, Trout returned to her home state and spent two years as a volunteer assistant coach at the University of South Carolina, helping the Gamecocks to their first NCAA Tournament appearance in six years in 2013.
“I’m excited to be a part of the staff and for the opportunity to work with the student-athletes here at GW,” said Trout.
Trout also served as head coach of the Southern Force 18U Gold travel team in 2012, guiding the squad to a seventh-place finish at Premier Nationals. Seven of her former players are now Division I student-athletes.
In addition, Trout played for the famed Connecticut Brakettes in 2008, batting .364 with 32 RBIs and 25 runs scored as the Brakettes went 59-2.
A native of Summerville, South Carolina, Trout graduated magna cum laud with her associates’ degree from Spartanburg Methodist in 2009 and earned her bachelor’s degree in magazine journalism from Georgia in 2012, twice garnering SEC Academic
