Rio Grande --- The University of Rio Grande did not waste any time in naming the successor to David Pyles as RedStorm softball coach. Dawnjene DeLong will take over the reins of a program that Pyles transformed from also-ran to contender. 

DeLong was a four-year letter winner for Hamilton High School. During her time at Hamilton she was a three-time All-Greater Miami Conference First-Team selection and helped the Big Blue to a GMC title and a state semifinal appearance her sophomore season, after a state runner-up finish the previous year.

DeLong earned the team's Best Defensive Player Award all four seasons and also earned four basketball and four volleyball letters, garnering all-league honors in each sport. She proved to be an outstanding student as well, being named to the National Honor Society.

DeLong was recruited by Coach Pyles to come to Rio Grande, but turned him down to go play at Bowling Green, where she had a stellar career for the Falcons. DeLong led the team with a .348 batting average in her final collegiate season in 2008, earning Most Valuable Offensive Player honors. 

After her playing career came to an end, DeLong served as a student assistant for the Bowling Green program in 2009. She has also coached the freshman team at her high school alma mater (Hamilton) and has been an assistant and head coach of the 18 and under ASA Gold Team and was head coach of the 14 and under team last summer. 

DeLong is thrilled to be the new head coach of the Rio Grande softball program and is anxious to get started. "I'm definitely very excited and looking forward to filling Dave's shoes and improving on the success that he has had," she said. 

DeLong had some other offers for graduate assistant positions at other schools, but the opportunity to be head coach and to work toward her Masters' degree was too much to pass up. "Actually I was looking for a G.A. position at first," she said. "I talked to one of the (Rio) players, Anna Smith, and she told me that Dave was leaving and I wasn't necessarily interested in being a head coach right away, until the double position was offered and I thought about it, prayed about it, and it felt right."

"I actually was contacted by another school for a G.A. (position) and the next day, Dave called me about his G.A. and possibly being the head coach, so it was kind of neat how it happened so fast," DeLong added. "After I came home from my interview, another school contacted me to be a G.A . This is the one that felt the most right and I feel very comfortable, I like the area. It's a good set-up, Dave recruited a lot of good players and I think it's going to be something easy to walk into."

DeLong feels her background in the sport has prepared her well as she ventures into the realm of college coaching and running a program. "You have so many different people in your life that influence you, my physical education teacher in elementary school, I talk about her all the time, she's probably one of the biggest influences on me as far as going to softball," she said. "Her, and so many different coaches that I've had through little league and softball and my parents, and I have two brothers that have had a huge impact on shaping me to become the player and coach that I intend to be."

"In college I had a coach my freshman and sophomore year, they left and went to Syracuse, so I have their knowledge and then another coach came in my junior and senior year so I got to have her knowledge as well," DeLong added. "You think, at the time, this is terrible, a change in coaches in college, having to switch, but after that first year, I'm like ‘man this is really awesome, because I want to coach and I'm gaining all this additional knowledge,'"

"When I was in college I helped coach the Miami Valley Express, so I learned from the coaches there and a lot from my dad (Danny), he's probably the biggest influence as far as knowledge," DeLong said. "I've had a lot of different experiences." 

DeLong has taken a circuitous route to Rio Grande. She turned down Coach Pyles in the recruiting process and now has the task of convincing players, like herself, to come and play for her at Rio Grande. "It's interesting. It's ironic that I'm back where I turned something down. I'm glad they don't have hard feelings," DeLong said. "But I'm looking forward to it, looking to build on what he's already instilled here and bringing in whatever I can to make it that much better of a program." 

DeLong has not had a chance to meet with many of the players as of yet, but will be getting acquainted with her team in the near future. "I know that he signed quite a few pitchers and I think, maybe an outfielder," she said. "As far as the upperclassmen go, I know a few of the girls." 

"I'm not going to try too much, but I want an athlete that will do whatever is best for the team," DeLong added. "If I have to move her (to a different position) I will, but when I come in I'm to going to say ‘go to where your position is' and we'll go from there and I'll get to know their strengths and weaknesses and we'll build upon it." 

DeLong talked about the type of team that she wants to put on the field. "One of the quotes that I really like is ‘play with pride, play with purpose, play for your school, play for your teammates and lastly, play for yourself,'" she said. "I think community is very important. You're wearing that jersey, you're representing the school. I'm not going to have attitudes - that's something that is going to be dealt with."

"Character is very important, that's definitely going to be instilled and we're going to make sure that we have that," DeLong added. 

DeLong says the first order of business is to find a graduate assistant. "I'd like to have someone with some pitching experience," she said. "I feel my strengths are definitely hitting and fielding, fielding mostly. I'd love to have a pitching G.A., but if I can't find somebody, I've got options."

DeLong is a native of Hamilton, Ohio.