Western Washington University Women's Softball

Now entering her eighth season at the helm of Western Washington University Softball, Head Coach Sheryl Gilmore has established the Vikings as a consistent contender at both the conference and national levels. She took over the program in 2019 following a record-breaking head coaching tenure at Edmonds College, where she is still the winningest coach in that program’s history.   In six full seasons leading the Vikings (excluding the canceled 2020 season), Coach Gilmore has guided WWU to five consecutive GNAC Championship appearances, three GNAC Championship titles, three NCAA Championship Tournament berths, and two trips to the NCAA Division II Women’s College World Series. Gilmore has compiled a 214-116 record (.648 winning percentage) at WWU, averaging over 30 wins per season.   Gilmore’s leadership led to a historic 2024 season. The Vikings set a program record with 52 wins, claimed the GNAC Championship title, won the NCAA West Regional and Super Regional championships, and earned the first NCAA Division II College World Series berth in both program and GNAC history. WWU finished as National Runner-Up after advancing to the championship series in Longwood, Florida. Gilmore was named GNAC Coach of the Year and part of the NFCA West Region Coaching Staff of the Year.   In 2025, Gilmore and her staff repeated as NFCA West Region Coaching Staff of the Year, and she was honored as GNAC Co-Coach of the Year. The Vikings won both the GNAC regular season and championship tournament titles, captured the West Regional at Cal State East Bay (eliminating the region's top seed on the road), won the Super Regional at Cal State San Marcos, and secured a third-place national finish at the NCAA Division II College World Series after knocking off higher-seeded North Georgia and Central Oklahoma.   Under Coach Gilmore, WWU Softball team set several program records including total single season wins (52), highest single season winning percentage (.825), longest winning streak to start a season (13), and longest overall winning streak (17). The team has also finished with single season records for the most home runs (49), most doubles (106), most runs scored (366), and the best fielding percentage (.975) in program history. All five of WWU’s All-American’s have been awarded during Gilmore’s tenure, including first-baseman Emily Benson (2019), shortstop Tatum Dow (2021), shortstop Hailey Rath (2024), third-baseman Maleah Andrews (2025), and pitcher, Kaiana Kong (2024 and 2025). In the six seasons that there were conference awards since Gilmore’s arrival, WWU players have won GNAC player of the year three times, all of which were infielders (Emily Benson in 2019, Hailey Rath in 2024, and Maleah Andrews in 2025). During that time, the Vikings have earned 40 All-Conference Awards in the GNAC and had 18 All-West Region Award winners. WWU has also had 8 players on the Schutt Sports NFCA Division II National Player/Pitcher of the Year watch list in the last seven years.   In addition to her coaching duties, Gilmore is an active member of several NFCA and NCAA committees, including the DII Head Coaches Committee (representing the GNAC) and the DII West Region representative for the All-American committee. She is also serving as the GNAC Softball Chair and a member of the NCAA DII Softball Regional Advisory Committee (RAC).   Gilmore is just the fifth head coach in WWU softball history, with the program having competed as a varsity sport since 1993.   Prior to WWU, Gilmore transformed the Edmonds College softball program over four seasons as head coach (2015–2018). She inherited a team that had won just 12 total games in the eight previous seasons combined and led a rapid turnaround, guiding the Tritons to a 106-60 (.639) record, three consecutive NWAC playoff appearances after her first season, a 2018 North Region Championship, and a third-place finish at the NWAC Tournament.   In 2018, Edmonds set a program record with 42 wins (42-8), went 29-3 in league play, and Gilmore earned NWAC North Region Coach of the Year honors. Under her leadership, 19 players earned All-NWAC North Region honors and 3 players (4 selections) earned NFCA First-Team All-American honors. Each season under Gilmore, Edmonds improved its win percentage, climbing from .281 in her first year to .804 in her final season.   A WWU alumna, Gilmore earned her Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology with a minor in Sports Psychology, followed by her Master of Science in Human Movement and Performance with a concentration in Exercise Physiology. Gilmore was awarded magna cum laude graduation honors and is published for her softball-related thesis research. While at Western she taught exercise physiology labs, coached both high school and select travel ball teams, worked as a private hitting instructor, and assisted as a strength and conditioning coach at WWU. After graduation she taught upper division kinesiology classes at Western before starting her collegiate coaching career at Edmonds College, where she also served as a full-time faculty member and the NWAC Women’s Commissioner.   Gilmore is graduate of Edmonds-Woodway High School and grew up playing softball in Edmonds, WA.   Gilmore's Career Head Coaching Record:    Year School Overall Conference  2015 Edmonds 9-23 5-19  2016 Edmonds 20-19 6-14  2017 Edmonds 35-10 26-6  2018 Edmonds 42-8 29-3  2019 WWU 27-18 16-12  2020 WWU 10-12 5-5  2021 WWU 23-14 11-9  2022 WWU 29-24 15-9  2023 WWU 26-23 13-11  2024 WWU 52-12 19-5  2025 WWU 47-13 21-3  WWU 7 Seasons 214-116 100-54   Updated July 17, 2025

Completed her 5th season as WWU's lead assistant coach in 2025. In her last two seasons Labasan has helped lead one of the top pitching staffs in the nation ot a national runner-up finish in 2024 and a Final Four Appearance in 2025 ... The Vikings had a team ERA of 1.86 in 2024 and 2.03 in 2025 to rank top 15 in the nation both years. Led by 3 standouts Joie Baker (27-13. 2.33 ERA), Alli Kimball (40-8, 1.69 ERA), Kaiana Kong (31-3, 18 SV, 1.42 ERA). As a student-athlete at WWU was a four-year letterwinner as a two-way player in softball appearing in 154 games from 2016-2019 ... as a pitcher went 37-39 with a 3.48 ERA in 99 career appearances and as a hitter was a career .348 batter (150-for-431) with 95 runs scored, 26 doubles, 5 home runs and 48 RBI ... in WWU career record books ranks 3rd in pitching appearances (99), 7th in batting average (.348) and tied for 7th in runs scored (95) ... was a First Team All-GNAC selection in 2018 and two-time second-team pick ... all-regional utility player in 2017 and 2018. Native of Mililani, Hawai'i who was the Gatorade State Player of the Year during her senior season at Maryknoll High School ... also POY for both Scoringlive all-Hawaii Division I and Interscholastic League of Hawaii … First-team Honolulu Advertiser all-State, helping Lady Spartans place third at Hawaii High School Athletic Association State Division I Championships …First-team all-state, Scoringlive all-Hawaii DI and all-league as junior … Posted 14-5 record and had 1.82 earned run average with 99 strikeouts in 77 innings worked… Pitched no-hitter in 6-0 win over Pearl City in opening round of state tourney, striking out 14 and walking three in seven innings … Helped Lady Spartans place fifth at state in school’s first appearance.