Oberlin College Women's Softball

Julie Pratt enters her fourth season as head softball coach at Oberlin College in 2025-26. In her first season at the helm of the program, Pratt helped guide the Crimson and Gold to establish a school record with 112 stolen bases. Under Pratt’s direction, the Yeowomen have produced four All-North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) recipients, 21 NCAC All-Academic honorees, 12 College Sports Communications selections, 27 National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) scholar athletes, and two NFCA Academic teams.  Pratt brought 26 years of collegiate coaching experience before coming to Oberlin, most recently serving as the assistant coach at Case Western Reserve University for three years. In 2022, Pratt helped guide the Spartans into the NCAA Super Regionals, finishing the season with a 30-12 record and NFCA ranking of 13th in the country. In two full seasons of competition (2021-22), the Spartans won 57 games with Pratt on staff en route to earning University Athletic Association (UAA) and NFCA Region VII Coaching Staff of the Year honors in 2022.  Prior to her stint at CWRU, Pratt spent 13 seasons as the associate head coach at University of Akron. From 1999-2005, Pratt coached at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI), spending the final six seasons as head coach. She became just one of two coaches in program history to surpass 100-career wins, which included a 20-win season in 2005 and Mid-Continent Conference Coach of the Year honors.  Pratt's coaching career began at Wright State, where she was on staff from 1996-98. Pratt aided in the Raiders setting a then-school-record total of 29 wins in the 1997 season.  Prior to graduating from the University of Akron in 1996 with a degree in sociology and corrections, Pratt was a four-year letterwinner for the Zips, earning All-Mid-American Conference honors in 1994. Pratt holds the doubles record and is in the top ten in the record books for hits, RBIs, and batting average. She was inducted into the University's Varsity 'A' Hall of Fame in 2013.  JULIE PRATT CAREER COACHING RECORD Season Overall Record NCAC Record NCAC Finish 2023 9-25 4-10 7th 2024 6-26 2-12 7th 2025 2-31 0-14 8th Total (3 seasons): 17-82 (.172) 6-36 (.143)

Lauren Polak is entering her fourth season as assistant softball coach at Oberlin College in 2025-26. After working with the team in the fall of 2022 on a volunteer basis, Polak was promoted to a full-time assistant coach in January of 2023.  In her first season working with the pitching staff, Polak guided the Yeowomen to their lowest team ERA since 2014 with a mark of 4.66. Rookie Haley Alspach recorded 59 strikeouts, tying for fifth all-time in school history. During her tenure at Oberlin, Polak has helped guide four All-North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) recipients, 21 NCAC All-Academic honorees, 12 College Sports Communications selections, 27 National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) scholar athletes, and two NFCA Academic teams.  Prior to her arrival in Oberlin, Polak spent the 2022 season as the head coach of Western Reserve Academy in Hudson, Ohio. Polak's coaching career started in 2015 at York College (Pennsylvania), where she worked with the team’s hitters and pitchers. In her only season with the Spartans, she helped guide them to 25 wins and a team ERA of just 2.48, which was the lowest of any Spartan team in the previous five years. Additionally, she mentored Melissa Jurkiewicz to First-Team Middle Atlantic Conference honors after she recorded 13 wins and a 1.89 ERA.  A four-year starter and 2014 team captain at Washington College (Maryland), Polak was a two-time all-conference selection and helped the Shorewomen earn the Centennial Conference Championship and a trip to the NCAA Tournament in 2013. A career .381 hitter, Polak started 165 of 167 games she played in, producing 219 hits, 57 doubles, and 77 RBIs, while scoring 110 runs.  Polak graduated from Washington College in 2014 with a bachelor’s degree in business management.