St. Olaf College Women's Softball

Kayla Hatting is in her 10th season as the head softball coach at St. Olaf in 2025-26 after being named to the position on June 10, 2016. Through nine seasons, Hatting has led the Oles to a record of 203-121 (.627), including a 125-50 (.714) mark in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC). In 2021, St. Olaf won its first MIAC regular-season championship since 1996 and made its first appearance in the NCAA Tournament since the same year before eventually finishing as the runner-up at the Waverly Regional. Hatting was named the 2021 MIAC Coach of the Year after leading the Oles to the historic season. The Oles have appeared in the MIAC Playoffs in each of the last seven seasons the tournament has been held and were one of the final two teams vying for the conference championship in both 2021 and 2022. St. Olaf has won at least 21 games in each of its eight full seasons under Hatting after not having had a winning season since 1998 prior to Hatting's arrival on the Hill. In her time at St. Olaf, Hatting has coached 29 All-MIAC selections, 12 Honorable Mention All-MIAC honorees, 13 NFCA All-Region performers, and three NFCA All-Americans, as well as two MIAC Pitchers of the Year and one MIAC Player of the Year. The program also produced 12 College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District honorees and its first CSC Academic All-American under Hatting's leadership. St. Olaf earned its first national ranking from the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) at the end of the 2020 season and was ranked in the NFCA Division III Top 25 on 10 occasions during 2021. The Oles peaked at a program-best ranking of No. 13 on March 10, 2021. Prior to coming to St. Olaf, Hatting spent the previous two seasons as a graduate assistant at NCAA Division II Augustana University in Sioux Falls, S.D. There, she coached the program's catchers and outfielders, helping the Vikings to a NCAA Super Regional appearance in 2015, as Augustana posted a 53-11 record, including a 28-2 mark in league play. In 2016, Augustana was 35-19 and 21-8 in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC).  Hatting was a two-time captain at Luther where she transitioned from a shortstop in high school to an all-region catcher for the Norse, who reached the NCAA Tournament in each of her four seasons. She earned four letters as Luther won three regular season and four postseason Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (now American Rivers Conference) championships.  A native of LeMars, Iowa, Hatting served as an assistant softball coach for Gehlen Catholic School from 2011-14.    THE OLES UNDER KAYLA HATTING SEASON OVERALL PCT. MIAC PCT. MIAC / MIAC PLAYOFFS / NCAA TOURNAMENT 2017 26-12 .684 15-7 .682 5th  2018 23-18 .561 12-10 .545 5th / 1-2 MIAC Playoffs 2019 27-14 .659 16-6 .650 t-2nd / 1-2 MIAC Playoffs 2020 7-1 .875 -- -- 2021 26-8 .765 20-2 .909 1st / MIAC Playoffs Runner-Up / NCAA Waverly Regional Runner-Up 2022 24-18 .571 18-4 .818 2nd / MIAC Playoffs Runner-Up 2023 21-20 .512 14-7 .667 3rd / 1-1 MIAC Playoffs 2024 25-14 .641 16-6 .727 t-4th / 0-1 MIAC Playoffs 2025 24-16 .600 14-8 .636 3rd / 1-1 MIAC Playoffs TOTAL 203-121 .627 125-50 .714 -

Julie Graf '21 is in her fifth season as an assistant coach for the St. Olaf softball program in 2025-26. In Graf's three seasons since returning as a coach for the program she played for, St. Olaf has posted an overall record of 94-66 (.588) and a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) record of 58-28 (.667). The Oles have qualified for the MIAC Playoffs in each of the last four seasons to extend their streak to eight consecutive berths in the tournament. Over the last four seasons, St. Olaf has produced the program's first MIAC Player of the Year, 18 All-MIAC honorees, nine Honorable Mention All-MIAC selections, and six National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) All-Region awardees. The program has also produced 43 Academic All-MIAC honorees, 28 NFCA Scholar-Athletes, 20 College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District selections, and one MIAC Elite 22 Award recipient. The most decorated student-athlete in program history, Graf was a two-time NFCA All-American and four-time All-MIAC honoree during her five-year career at St. Olaf from 2016-21. She returned to the Hill after spending the 2021-22 academic year as a graduate assistant coach for the softball program at Alfred University in Alfred, N.Y. Over her five-year career as an Ole, Graf went 80-36 with a 1.37 earned-run average in 137 appearances (106 starts), striking out 1,236 batters in 719.0 innings in the circle. She threw 70 complete games, 22 shutouts, and eight no-hitters, while holding opponents to a .156 batting average. Graf concluded her career as St. Olaf’s all-time leader in most major pitching categories, leading the way in wins, appearances, starts, complete games, shutouts, innings pitched, strikeouts, and strikeouts per seven innings (12.04), while ranking third in ERA. Graf wrapped up her career ranked fifth in NCAA Division III history in strikeouts per seven innings and eighth in strikeouts after ranking in the top-five nationally in both categories in all four of her full seasons. Over her career, she was a four-time NFCA All-Midwest Region selection, a two-time MIAC Pitcher of the Year, a three-time Academic All-MIAC honoree, a two-time College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-District ® selection – including being the program’s first CoSIDA Academic All-American ® in 2020 – and was one of 15 finalists for the Schutt Sports/NFCA Division III National Pitcher and Player of the Year award in 2021. Graf was also St. Olaf’s nominee for the NCAA Woman of the Year as a fifth-year senior. After graduating from St. Olaf as an exercise science and psychology double-major, Graf served as a graduate assistant coach at Alfred University during the 2021-22 academic year while studying counseling as a graduate student. She helped the Saxons to their second-straight Empire 8 Tournament title and a berth in the NCAA Tournament, as the team finished 26-16 overall.

Anne Fossum '24 is in her second season as an assistant coach for the St. Olaf softball program in 2025-26. Fossum joined head coach Kayla Hatting's coaching staff prior to the 2025 season after wrapping up a four-year career for the Oles. A two-time All-MIAC selection and two-time National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) All-America Scholar-Athlete, Fossum started 123 of the 132 games she played in at St. Olaf, htiting .275 (93-for-338) with 25 doubles, one triple, 10 home runs, 51 walks, 63 runs scored, and 66 RBI.

Patrick Wadzinski is in the third season of his second stint - and 11th season season overall - as an assistant coach for the St. Olaf softball program in 2023-24.  Wadzinski previously spent eight seasons with the program from 2010-17, helping the Oles to 128 wins over that stretch. In his first season with the program in 2010, St. Olaf qualified for the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Playoffs for the first time since the event's inception in 2000. Three years later, the Oles qualified again and won two games in the tournament.   Wadzinski was a four-year starter for the St. Olaf baseball team from 2005-09 and was named the team's captain in 2009. He was team MVP in his senior season and was named third-team All-Midwest Region during a season where he hit .362 with eight stolen bases, 41 runs, two home runs, and a .986 fielding percentage. Wadzinski holds St. Olaf baseball's single-season walks record with 36 in 2009, a season in which he struck out only eight times in 189 plate appearances.   He also played football at St. Olaf, where he was a placekicker in 2009. He was a perfect 12-for-12 on extra points and was 3-for-7 on field goals, tallying 21 points.