Canisius College Women's Softball

Griffins' head coach for 36 years before announcing his retirement July 28, 2014. In her first season at the helm of the softball program, Griffin earned MAAC Coach of the Year honors after helping lead the Blue and Gold to a 26-19 overall record and a 15-5 mark in league play. The 15 wins in MAAC play helped lead the Griffs to the program's 14th MAAC regular-season crown, and it was the first since 2010. Griffin's first team led the league in three different offensive categories, including triples per game, where Canisius ended the season as the nation's leader in three-base hits per contest. The 2007 graduate of Mercyhurst College, Griffin served as an assistant coach on Rappl's coaching staff for seven seasons, starting in 2008 when she joined the program as a volunteer assistant coach. In her first year with the Griffs, she was a part of the coaching staff that helped guide the Blue and Gold to a school-record 39 wins, a MAAC Tournament championship and a berth into the NCAA Division I Softball Tournament. In 2014, she took over as the team's pitching coach, where she oversaw the development of former Griff hurler Jen Consaul, who set the program's single-season records for appearances, innings pitched and complete-games. As an assistant coach, Griffin handled day-to-day operations of the program, which included recruiting, scheduling, practice planning and on-field instruction. In her role as a recruiter for the team, she played a role in the recruitment of three All-MAAC honorees in the last two years. Griffins also helped plan and supervise various camps and clinics at Canisius and she's active in the community, as she serves as a volunteer coach with the Canisius Special Olympics basketball and softball teams. Her basketball teams won back-to-back gold medals at the New York State Special Olympics games and in the summer of 2014, her hoops squad earned a silver medal at the USA Special Olympics Games, held in Princeton, N.J. Griffin is no stranger to Western New York softball, as she played her scholastic ball at nearby Cleveland Hill High School. At Mercyhurst, she played in 130 career games and she was a three-time GLIAC All-Academic Team honoree. As a senior in 2007, Griffin hit .264 with three home runs and 18 RBI for the Lakers, while ranking third on the team in on-base percentage (.346), fourth in runs batted in and fifth in total bases (46). She also won six games in the circle for Mercyhurst in her senior season to go with a save and a 3.52 ERA. She was named to the All-GLIAC Honorable Mention list after her junior campaign when she hit .322 with six doubles and 22 RBI. Griffin earned her undergraduate degree in sports medicine from Mercyhurst in 2007, and she earned her master's degree in school counseling from Canisius in 2011.

Joe Gierlak was officially named the third head coach in Canisius softball program history on June 30, 2025.  Gierlak, who served as an assistant coach for Canisius in 2025, replaced former head coach Kim Griffin, who stepped down from her position at the University in May 2025 to pursue a career in mental health counseling. A long-time assistant coach at both the Division I and Division II levels, Gierlak served as Canisius’ third-base coach and lead hitting instructor in 2025, a season where the Griffs ranked second in the MAAC in team batting average and runs scored. He also worked directly with the team’s infielders and helped develop opponent scouting reports.   Prior to joining the Canisius staff, Gierlak spent three seasons (2022-24) as an assistant coach at the University at Buffalo. In his first two seasons with the Bulls, he worked with the team’s catchers as well as the team’s infielders and outfielders. In 2024, he was appointed Buffalo’s pitching coach. In that role, he helped mentor two All-MAC pitchers and called pitches for Alexis Lucyshyn’s no-hitter against Winthrop on March 8, the sixth no-hitter in Buffalo softball program history. In addition to his on-field coaching responsibilities, Gierlak helped develop team scouting reports using the Synergy and 6-4-3 Charts software programs.   Gierlak got his start in collegiate softball coaching at Edinboro University, where he worked as an assistant coach under the direction of his father, Dan, who recently completed his 33rd season as the Fighting Scots’ head coach. At Edinboro, he held multiple roles on staff, including serving as the team’s third base coach, hitting coach and outfield coach, while also assisting with the day-to-day operations of the program. Following the 2021 season, he left Edinboro and joined the coaching staff at Mercyhurst, where he held the role of hitting coach for the Lakers for one season.   A former Division II baseball player at Clarion University, Gierlak earned his undergraduate degree in interdisciplinary studies with a concentration in sports management from Edinboro.

Abby Sotter is in her first season as the Canisius softball pitching coach. Sotter joined head coach Joe Gierlak's staff in the fall of 2025. A native of New Wilmington, Pa., Sotter started her collegiate coaching career at Edinboro, where she served as a graduate assistant from 2017-19 on the Fighting Scots' softball staff under long-time Edinboro head coach, Dan Gierlak, Joe's father. Prior to joining the coaching ranks, Sotter was a pitcher on the Edinboro staff from 2103-17. In her time as a collegiate pitcher, Sotter appeared in 35 games with 18 starts while tossing 98.1 innings. Her top season came in 2015, as a sophomore, where she posted a 3-2 record with a 4.40 ERA and fanned 28 in 35.0 innings of work. On April 16, 2015, she struck out a career-high eight batters against Clarion, and earlier that season, she tossed a complete-game shutout against Elizabeth City State, where she fanned six. In addition to her coaching duties at Canisius, Sotter currently serves as an undergraduate admission counselor at the University as well.  

Christie McGee-Ross is in her first season as assistant coach with the Canisius softball program after an award-winning career on the diamond with the Golden Griffins. In her four seasons with the program, McGee-Ross was a two-time All-MAAC First Team honoree as an outfielder, having been recognized during her junior and senior campaigns. A three-time All-MAAC Championship Team honoree, McGee-Ross led the Griffs in 2024 with a .395 batting average, 41 runs scored, 51 hits and three triples on her way to earning NFCA All-Great Lakes Region Second Team honors while also being named the 2023-24 Canisius Female Athlete of the Year.  A native of Cheektowaga, N.Y., McGee-Ross was a three-time MAAC All-Academic Team member who earned her undergraduate degree from Canisius in mathematics in 2024.