College of Central Florida Women's Softball

Lingle enters his fifth season as the assistant softball coach and recruiting coordinator for the College of Central Florida softball team. This past season, Lingle helped lead the Lady Patriots to its first-ever Mid-Florida Conference title and NJCAA No. 1 ranking which spanned seven weeks. He helped surpass the program's winningest record (set last year) by finishing 53-9 (20-4 in conference). Lingle was an integral part of CF's offensive dominance, as well as the development of freshman All-American Mariah Wise. Over the season, CF Softball led the state in runs scored (407) and home runs hit (52), while finishing Top 5 in FCSAA in batting average.  In 2014, Lingle helped lead the Lady Patriots to a NJCAA No. 2 overall finish, falling to Angelina College in the NJCAA National Championship game. The CF Softball team experienced its best-ever, overall record finishing 48-15 (18-6 conf.) on the season. They also took down NJCAA No. 1 teams Indian River State College and Arizona Western College en route to their national runner-up finish. Lingle was part a part of a coaching staff the received South Regional Softball Coaching Staff of the Year honors as a result of their great success in 2013. In 2012, he helped the program go from 14 wins in a season (2011) to 36 wins. During this time, his recruiting efforts have made CF a common name seen in the JUCO state polls. Lingle is a graduate of CF and played baseball for the Patriots under the guidance of current CF coach Marty Smith. He received his Bachelor's Degree in Education from St. Leo University. From there, Lingle has been a part of the Marion County Public Education System for the past 15 years as a teacher at Osceola Middle School. Prior to coming to CF, Lingle established Ocala Forest High as a perennial softball contender. He lead the Wildcats to six straight postseason berths, collected 131 wins and sent dozens of players on to the collegiate level. While at Forest, Lingle had 17 players earn all-state honors. Aside from coaching at Forest High, Lingle has also spent some time in the travel ball circuit coaching Ocala Gold, where he sent over 30 girls on to colleges, while collecting two state titles, a World Series Championship, and numerous tournament titles. Aside from coaching and teaching, Coach Lingle enjoys spending time with his wife Laurel and his daughters Lindie and Mahri. Lingle is also an active member of Meadowbrook Church.

Megan Garst returns to the Patriots’ staff for her third season as the assistant pitching coach. In her first season the Lady Patriots pitching staff held a 1.98 ERA and a total of 46 wins. Standout, Haley Guffey, posted a 1.59 ERA and was among the nation’s top leaders with 27 wins during her freshmen year. The Columbiana, AL native began her coaching career in 2017, assisting local travel teams each summer until 2020. She had her first college experience in the coaching realm in the summer of 2021 with the Florida Gulf Coast League developing college players from universities across the nation. During the 21-22’ school year, Garst became the Graduate Assistant Softball Manager at the University of Alabama where she received her Master of Arts in Kinesiology – Sport Administration. Before her coaching career, Garst was an accomplished pitcher at the collegiate level. She holds the lowest single-season ERA at 0.94 and received first-team All-Region XXII selection and also earned regional all-tournament honors while at Shelton State Community College in 2017. Garst continued the same success after transferring to the University of North Alabama the following year, where she became a decorated softball athlete while receiving her Bachelor's degree in Exercise Science. During her sophomore year, she became the first UNA pitcher to receive All-America honors after earning second-team honors from the NFCA and third-team honors from D2CCA. She was also named the GSC Pitcher of the Year. In her junior year, she set a school record with a 0.83 ERA during UNA’s first season at the NCAA Division I level. She posted a 16-6 record on the year and was named first-team all-conference, as well as the ASUN Pitcher of the Year. During her fifth year, she set a new UNA record of 545 strikeouts.