Tyler Brown, Sports Information Assistant – University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – The Mocs softball staff has announced Michelle LaCourse has been promoted to Assistant Coach and former Arizona standout Brigette Del Ponte has been added as Chattanooga’s Volunteer Assistant Coach.
“We’re excited about the changes to our staff,” Head Coach Frank Reed said. “Michelle is a great coach that we were happy to be able to move up into a more permanent position, and Brigette comes to us from a great program and has a wealth of knowledge she can share with our student-athletes.”
LaCourse spent her fist coaching season as a volunteer assistant in 2013 with the Mocs after a stellar five-year career at UTC. LaCourse works mainly with the Chattanooga pitching staff while also assisting with hitting and fielding. In her first season on the bench, LaCourse’s pitching staff totaled 27 wins and three shutouts.
As a student-athlete at UTC, LaCourse As a student-athlete, Michelle ranks first in the Chattanooga record books for most runs batted in (217) and total bases (453) along with numerous top five all-time rankings. LaCourse also holds the record for slugging percentage (.846), on base percentage (.543) and most runs batted in (75) in a single season. She was named the Southern Conference Female Student-Athlete of the Year in 2012.
Del Ponte comes to the Mocs after spending her college career with the Arizona Wildcats. Del Ponte will work with Chattanooga’s outfielders and catchers in the 2014 season. Brigette is also currently a member of the National Pro Fastpitch league’s Akron Racers.
Along with numerous awards and recognition for her play, the infielder smashed 60 homeruns and drove in 229 runs over her four-year career with the Wildcats. Her 21 homeruns and 80 RBI in 2010 is an Arizona freshman record.
The infielder led Arizona a runner-up title in the 2010 Women’s College World Series while also collecting three trips to the NCAA Super Regionals and four to the NCAA Regionals in her career. In her four seasons at Arizona, the ‘Cats were 166-77 overall.
