After finishing second-to-last in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference with a 12-20 record last year, Waynesburg University softball will head into the 2019 season under a new coach.

Richele Hall, who had a combined record of 56-91-1 over the four years she spent as head coach for the Yellow Jackets, has recently resigned. Following Hall’s departure, Brett Shimek has been hired as the new head coach.

According to Athletic Director Larry Marshall, the university immediately began to search for a new coach after Hall left with the nontraditional season quickly approaching.

“After we got the resignation from [Hall] we started immediately [to look for a new coach],” Marshall said. “It was only like within the last month this came out.”

Through the short process, Marshall said the university received roughly six to seven applications. Out of the applications Waynesburg received, Marshall said Shimek stood out for multiple reasons, including living locally.

“[Shimek] was the most qualified one and it’s great that he lives here and he’s familiar with Waynesburg from a softball perspective,” Marshall said.

Over the past decade, Shimek said he has been heavily involved with coaching.

“I got involved in softball about 10 years ago, maybe longer than that at this point,” Shimek said. “[Coaching] in the local [recreation] league quickly gravitated to getting involved in the extra activities.”

After starting his coaching career in softball after his daughter started playing the sport, Shimek soon became the president and vice-president of the Waynesburg Girls Softball Association. Additionally, Shimek spent time with multiple travel teams around the greater Pittsburgh area, including the Pittsburgh Power and Waynesburg Dirt Dawgs.

“We started a [travel] team here locally,” Shimek said. “[I] had that for a few years and ended up taking a handful of players and going up to the…Pittsburgh Power. We did that for a couple of years, traveled a lot [through] Ohio and Pennsylvania.”

Most recently, Shimek has spent the past four years as an assistant coach at Waynesburg Central High School. During each of his four years, the Raiders have qualified for the WPIAL playoffs.

With a wide range of coaching experience, Shimek said one of his goals with the Yellow Jackets is to push for a playoff spot in the conference this spring.

“We have everybody back from last year and that is really exciting,” Shimek said. “I think we want to build on what they’ve done the past couple of years and definitely try and get in the PAC tournament.”

Having been the head coach for less than a week, Shimek said the Yellow Jackets have already made an impression upon him.

“I have met with the team and I was extremely impressed,” Shimek said. “We had a [meeting]…I had like 20 plus girls sitting in the classroom with paper and pen ready to go, so it seems like they are very excited as well.”

With the nontraditional season beginning for the softball team, Marshall said it’s nice to have veteran experience within the coaching staff.

“[Shimek is] not a young kid out of school,” Marshall said. “[That is] something good…it’s nice to have some maturity.”