Misericordia University Women's Softball

Chris Blum is in his second season as the head softball coach at Misericordia University.  He led the Cougars to a 27-13 record and a MAC Freedom championship in his first season in 2023. Previously, Blum spent two seasons as an assistant softball coach at Kutztown University where he helped the Golden Bears to two straight NCAA Tournament appearances.  Kutztown was 40-15 in 2022 and won the PSAC championship and advanced to the NCAA Division II Super Regionals.   Prior to that, served 17 seasons as the head baseball coach at Kutztown where he compiled more than 500 career wins.   Blum earned his bachelor's degree in communications from Elizabethtown where he helped the Blue Jays to a MAC championships and two NCAA Tournament appearances. Blum amassed a 504-338 overall record, including a 213-192 mark in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference while guiding KU to four PSAC Championships, three regional titles and 10 appearances in the NCAA Tournament.  The Golden Bears won PSAC titles in 2005, 2006, 2008 and 2014 and won regional titles in 2004, 2007 and 2010. A three-time PSAC Coach of the Year, Blum mentored three PSAC Athletes of the Year, two Pitchers of the Year, three Freshmen of the Year and 59 All-PSAC selections. On the regional stage, Blum was recognized twice as the ABCA Atlantic Region Coach of the Year. He coached the regional Player of the Year in 2010, had three regional Pitchers of the Year and 66 All-Atlantic Region selections. Nationally, Blum's players have earned nine All-America honors. Blum claimed career win #500 with a 2-1 win over Bloomsburg in the second game of a doubleheader, March 30, 2019 to become just the fifth coach in PSAC history to reach 500 career wins. Blum was crowned the "King of Baseballtown" by the Reading Fightin' Phils on Jan. 19, 2016, for his contributions and support of local baseball. Blum won his 400th career game with a no-hitter against Virginia State on March 20, 2014 to become the second-quickest PSAC coach to reach 400 wins. From 2000-09, Kutztown was the winningest team in the PSAC and 18th in Division II with a record of 359-180 and a .666 winning percentage during the 10-year period. In 2007, Blum guided KU to a school-record 49 wins and the Golden Bears spent the week of April 30 as the top-ranked team in Division II, a first for a KU sports team. The Golden Bears won the PSAC East regular-season title and the NCAA Division II North Atlantic Regional, finishing seventh in the nation. KU was 49-7 overall, 19-1 in the PSAC East, and Blum was named the PSAC East and Regional Coach of the Year.  

Candice (VanHorn) Jones is in her first year as an assistant coach at Misericordia. She graduated from Hazleton Area High School in 2011 where she was a four year letter winner. During her high school career, Candice was named to the Times Leader and Citizens Voice All-Star teams. She was named Player of the Year as a senior. VanHorn continued her career at Division 1 Coppin State in Baltimore, Maryland. At Coppin, Candice was named MEAC conference First-Team for shortstop as a junior and as a utility player as a senior. She received the University President Award and was named a member of the All-Academic team. In 2015, she graduated with a bachelors in Sports Medicine. VanHorn spent her years in the travel ball circuit with the Valley Regional Warriors (ages 10 to 14), the Black Widows (ages 14 to 27), and the Lyons Spirit (ages 27-31). Although she’s been coaching with the Valley Regional Warriors since 2018 and currently plays with the Women’s open team. Upon graduating from Coppin, VanHorn continued her career playing semi-professionally in Karlsruhe, Germany in 2015 where her team won the state cup. Candice finished her academic career at the University of Regina in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. There, she was named league MVP, Hitter of the Year, made First-Team each year for shortstop, and her team won a National Title in 2018. VanHorn earned her masters in Kinesiology and Health Studies with a concentration in sports psychology. Candice began giving pitching and hitting lessons in Drums, PA and Bloomsburg, PA, , in 2016. Candice coached at Hazleton Area from 2019 to 2023. She was also inducted to her high school Hall of Fame in 2024.

Brooke Sroczinski is in her first season as a volunteer assistant coach for the Misericordia University softball team. Sroczinski earned a bachelor of science degree in biomedical engineering and a master of engineering in Systems Engineering and Technology Management from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute where she was a five-year member of the softball team.  At RPI, Sroczinski was a two-time team captain and led the Engineers to back-to-back NCAA Regional Tournament appearances in 2023 and 2024. She was a four-time selection to the Liberty League All-Academic Team earned first-team All-Liberty League honors in 2022 and 2024. As a senior, Sroczinski was named Liberty League Pitcher of the Year and first-team NFCA All-Region after leading the Liberty League in ERA (1.24), innings pitched (152.2), and wins (17). In 2023, she led the nation with nine saves. Sroczinski was the President of the Student Athlete Advisory Committee and a Student-Athlete Mentor. She is currently a Process Engineer at Procter and Gamble.