The Highline softball program hopes to hit it out of the park with new Head Coach Kristine Foley. 

The Thunderbird coaching box became vacant after the abbreviated season in 2021. The months following were unclear with returning players on campus for the fall, but no head coach to lead them.

Highline Athletics posted the job opening on Sept. 20, 2021 on the NWAC website. Talk of a new head coach emerged in November 2021 as the spring season inched closer. Just last week, Foley was officially named head coach for softball via the Highline Athletics website.

Foley has played softball on a variety of levels throughout her playing career. She played as catcher for the 13-U Kirkland Little League. Consistently an All-Star roster player, Foley’s team won the state championship and competed in the regional finals. In her high school tenure she was a three-year starting catcher for the varsity team and a select club player, according to the North Seattle Rage website.

After high school, Foley stayed involved with the softball community. She was an all-star coach and softball coordinator for Shoreline Little League. She helped establish the North Seattle Rage organization which boasts four teams, according to the club website. 

Foley hopes to translate her success to the college level. 

“Kristine’s coaching philosophy is centered around supporting young women and focusing on how their individual contributions and responsibilities contribute to the team. She places an emphasis on the team bond on and off the field and women supporting each other – athletically and academically,” according to Foley’s bio on the Highline Athletics website.

Coach Foley takes over a team that went 4-6 in the COVID-shortened 2021 season. The last official season for Highline was in 2018-19 when the Lady T-Birds posted a 12-20 record. 

Foley may have to scramble to put together a team, with NWAC softball play usually beginning in March.