West Virginia Wesleyan College Women's Softball

Steve Warner is one of the elite softball coaches in NCAA Division II. He ranks fifth nationally among active NCAA Division II coaches in victories with a 1213-509-2 record during his 33 years at West Virginia Wesleyan. He won his 1,000th game in 2017 at the NCAA Division II World Series as his team finished third in the nation. Coach Warner is Nationally Ranked in NCAA Division 2 softball (through 2025) as the #1 WINNINGEST ACTIVE COACH (by Victories), and #15 WINNINGEST ACTIVE COACH (by Percentage). Warner is also the #5 WINNINGEST COACH ALL-TIME (by Victories). His accomplishments are matched by very few in his profession. Warner has been honored as WVIAC/MEC Coach of the Year a staggering 21 times. Twenty-one of his players have earned conference 'Pitcher of the Year' honors and 17 have been recognized as 'Players of the Year'. Brooklyn Waddell, Hannah Vet, Tori Pogue and Madison Casto became NFCA All-Americans under Warner's tutelage.  Consistency has led Warner's Bobcat teams to win 20 regular season WVIAC/MEC Championships and 17 WVIAC/MEC Tournament titles. WVWC softball has been a mainstay in postseason competition. Warner's squads have appeared in 20 NCAA Regionals and five NCAA Super Regionals (2012, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017). In 2008, Warner assisted Scot Thomas, head coach of Virginia Tech with the Salem All-Star Team, which competed against the USA Olympic team.  Two of his players, Laura Foster and Emily Niemen participated in that game. Warner was inducted into the West Virginia Executive Sports Hall of Fame on May 21, 2010.  The Buckhannon native is married to Terry Warner and the couple has two sons -- Thomas and Jonathan.

Sarah joined the Union Commonwealth staff as an assistant in August and was named interim in October of 2024. She had multiple All Academic, and Academic All-District, and two All-Conference award-winning players.  Sarah was named head coach of the Beaver softball program in the summer of 2023. She joined the staff as an assistant coach in the fall of 2022 and later became interim head coach for 2023 spring season. During her first campaign, she coached a Second Team All-Conference selection, five Academic All-Conference selections, as well as four Academic All-District players. Sarah came to BVU after spending the 2021-22 academic year as an assistant softball coach at Cottey College in Nevada, Mo.  Prior to that, she spent nearly seven years as a private softball instructor in Evansville, Ind., where she worked with younger individuals to teach the proper mechanics of various positions.  She also spent one season (2013) as a volunteer coach with the University of Evansville. She was a prep standout at Okemos High School in Lansing, Michigan and went on to finish a stellar collegiate career at the University of Evansville.  During her prep playing days, Richardson compiled a 0.53 ERA, a career record of 96-18 along with 3 perfect games, 8 no-hitters and 42 shutouts.  She chalked up 1,237 strikeouts which ranks 11th on the all-time Michigan high school record books.  She was inducted in to the Okemos High School Athletic Hall of Fame in 2018.  Her college career began at the Central Michigan University before she moved onto the University of Evansville following her sophomore campaign.  During her senior season, she posted 139 strikeouts over 173 innings to go along with a perfect game vs Wichita State University on March 29, 2013.  She was later named to the Missouri Valley Conference All-Tournament team in 2013.   Sarah holds a bachelor of science degree in sociology from the University of Evansville.  

Bob Allen continues to be a volunteer assistant for head coach Steve Warner and West Virginia Wesleyan softball. He coached at Nitro High School for five years and accumulated a 90-45 record. Allen then went to West Virginia State as an assistant coach for seven years and was appointed head coach in 2005. His overall record at West Virginia State was 318-176-1. During that time he won two conference tournament championships and made three NCAA Tournament appearances. As head coach at West Virginia State, he had four seasons with over 40 wins and three seasons with over 30 wins. Allen had numerous all-conference and all-region players and was privileged to coach one First-Team All-American. Allen graduated from Marshall University in 1970 with a Bachelor of Science degree. He was also a First Lieutenant in the U.S. Army Infantry and served in Vietnam. Allen lives in Cross Lanes, W.Va. with his wife Mary. The couple has four children and five grandchildren.