Head
Coach Dean Johnson
Univ. of New England ‘86
14th season
Dean Johnson has developed the Cougar softball team into one of
the top programs in the region and in the nation. Through 13
seasons, Johnson has compiled a record of 369-177 to rank among the
top active NCAA Division II softball coaches. He has been named the
Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference Coach of the Year four times,
and has guided the Cougars to four straight CACC regular-season
crowns to go with CACC Tournament titles in 2004, 2005 and 2006.
What is almost as remarkable as his accomplishments is how Johnson
became the head softball coach at Caldwell College in 1995.
Just before the 1995 spring season, the softball coach at the time
left in the middle of a practice and never returned. Mark Corino,
Caldwell’s Executive Director of Athletics, asked Johnson if he
would fill in as softball coach. Johnson agreed, finished the
practice session that day and stayed on as coach through the season.
Since that day in 1995, his teams have won at least 27 games in each
of the past nine seasons while experiencing only one losing campaign
during his tenure. Over the past four seasons, the Cougars have gone
156-52 overall and 73-11 in the CACC.
The Cougars reached the
pinnacle of college softball in 2004, when they captured the
Northeast Region Tournament and advanced to the NCAA Division II
College World Series. The Cougars finished 45-7 and were ranked
seventh in the final National Fastpitch Coaches Association national
poll, the highest national ranking ever for any sport at Caldwell.
The NFCA honored Johnson and assistant coach Barbara Hutchinson by
naming Caldwell’s coaching staff the 2004 Northeast Region Coaching
Staff of the Year.
In 2005, Johnson led the
Cougars to a 40-11 overall record, including an 18-2 mark in the
CACC. Caldwell repeated as CACC Tournament champions and advanced to
the Northeast Region Tournament for the second straight year. In
2006, the Cougars made it three consecutive CACC Tournament titles
and again qualified for the regional tourney, finishing with a 37-16
record. Last year Caldwell tied for the CACC regular-season crown en
route to a 34-17 campaign. Nationally, the Cougars appeared in the
NFCA Division II Top 25 Poll in 29 of 30 polls stretching from 2004
to 2007.
Although the 2004 team brought Johnson his first CACC title, the
Cougars have been one of the top teams in the conference for several
seasons and have reached the finals of the CACC Tournament seven of
the last 10 times, including the past five seasons. Several of
Johnson’s players have earned All-CACC and NFCA All-Region honors,
including current Cougars Nicole Bodrog and Danielle Genovese. Four
Cougars have been named All-Americans, including pitcher Corinne
Reiser, who was named to the 2004 NFCA All-America second team.
Johnson’s athletes also perform well in the classroom, as many of
Caldwell’s student-athletes have earned NFCA Scholar-Athlete awards.
In 1996, the Cougars had the highest grade-point average among all
NAIA programs. Last season’s squad ranked 13th among all NCAA
Division II softball programs in GPA, with nine Cougars receiving NFCA All-American Scholar-Athlete honors. Additionally, the Cougars
received an award from the NCAA for having the highest GPA among the
eight teams participating in the 2004 College Softball World Series.
In addition to his duties as softball coach, Johnson just completed
his 18th year as an assistant coach for the Cougar men’s basketball
team. He also has been Caldwell’s Associate Athletic Director in
charge of NCAA compliance for the last nine years.
A native of Belgrade Lakes, Maine, Johnson set many basketball
records as a point guard at the University of New England in
Biddeford, Maine. He also played major modified fast-pitch softball,
and in 1990 his team placed third nationally. Johnson graduated from
the University of New England in 1986 with a Bachelor of Arts in
History and Secondary Education. He earned a Master’s degree from
Caldwell College in 1997.
Assistant
Coach Jessica Saunders
Caldwell College '06
Second season
Jessica Saunders joined the Cougars' coaching staff in 2007 after a
stellar career at Caldwell College. Saunders, who pitched for the
Scarlet, White and Gold from 2003-06, won 51 games while striking
out 533 batters in her four years at Caldwell. She was named to the
all-Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference and all-Northeast Region
first teams as a junior and senior, and helped the Cougars' pitching
staff record the nation's lowest earned-run average as a sophomore
in 2004. At the 2005 CACC Tournament, Saunders pitched an amazing 16
2/3 innings in one day to lead Caldwell to a pair of victories that
clinched the tournament title. She was named the tournament's MVP
that year, and also made the all-Tournament squad as a senior in
2006.
A 2006 graduate of Caldwell College, Saunders majored in Computer
Science. She earned CACC all-Academic honors twice and made the
Academic All-District second team in 2005. Saunders currently resides
in Parsippany, N.J.
