By TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
New Missouri Western softball coach Joe Yegge has lots of family either from or living in Missouri, but he knows very little about St. Joseph.
But, as he begins his new job as the head coach of the Griffons, it's almost like he has family on campus already.
Yegge, a longtime softball coach at Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, has sent 53 players to four-year schools through the years, including five to Missouri Western.
Two of those five are now his assistant coaches. Lexi Kinnaird, who's been on staff the last two seasons, is returning to Missouri Western to be pitching coach, while Morgan Frost is also returning for her third season as a Griffons' assistant.
For Yegge, having a family-like atmosphere in an unfamiliar place makes this transition much easier.
"You go in and automatically have two people that you already see as family," Yegge said in a Zoom call with reporters Thursday. "The awesome thing is, they know my wife. They know my kids and have babysat my kids. It's going to be a fun atmosphere."
Yegge's bond with Kinnaird and Frost also stems from high school coaching. Yegge was the head softball coach at Cedar Rapids Prairie High School while also coaching at Kirkwood.
He led the Hawks to a conference title in 2015 and two appearances in the state tournament before stepping down in 2017.
Kinnaird and Frost coached the freshmen team at Cedar Rapids Prairie High, and were part of Yegge's staff during the two state tournament runs.
That's when Yegge first saw Frost and Kinnaird showcase their own coaching ability.
"I got to see them first-hand with what they did coaching wise," he said. "And them just playing (at Kirkwood)- they were two individuals who had the most passion on that team."
What's more - another one of Yegge's former players at Kirkwood is still on the Griffons' roster. Senior shortstop Rachel Stewart.
"I'm super excited," Stewart said. "It's actually a weird change of events coming from him recruiting me as a freshman at Kirkwood Community College and then having the opportunity to have him as a coach again is just really exciting, because I know he's going to bring great things to this team."
Yegge inherits a pretty great team at that. The Griffons lose only two seniors from the 2020-21 roster, and return practically every starter from a team that went 27-19 this past spring.
Among those returning is first-team All American and MIAA Player of the Year Sydni Hawkins.
"We've heard great things from all of the people who have played for him before," said Hawkins. "They've all just reassured us that it's going to be a great fit and everything will go smoothly once he gets here."
It's still a learning process, but Yegge has already heard from his assistants - the team this year could be something special.
"I know I'm excited," Yegge admitted. "Just talking with Morgan (Frost) more about things and her being on campus still and all that...she's excited and that makes me excited."
Yegge was officially named as the sixth Griffons' softball head coach in school history, replacing Jen Bagley Trotter who stepped down in June after 20 years at the helm to take the head coaching job at the University of St. Thomas - a DI program in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Yegge obviously has big shoes to fill. Trotter leaves behind a legacy that includes 676 career wins - the most in school and MIAA history.
She won two MIAA regular-season Championships, two MIAA Tournament Championships, had 11 NCAA Tournament Appearances and tallied thirteen 30-win seasons.
Having sent players from his JUCO program to Trotter's team, Yegge has had great respect for the Griffons, and thought it'd be a nice job to have if the seat ever came open.
"I always said in my career that if a good DII job opened up, it'd be a nice place to call home," Yegge said. "And this was one that I thought was a good spot."
More about Coach Yegge
Yegge brings 25 years of coaching experience to St. Joseph and has a career record of 616-225 (.732) in 15 seasons as a head coach.
He most recently spent the last three years as an associate head coach at DePaul University in Chicago.
In those three years, DePaul went 68-39 and 24-6 in the Big East Conference. He and the Blue Demons coaching staff earned the Big East Coaching Staff of the Year Award this past season as they went 25-11 and won the regular season league title with a 13-1 mark.
Yegge led Kirkwood to a 537-112 record during his 11 seasons there, winning eight conference championships and making six appearances in the JUCO Division II World Series.
Prior to Kirkwood, Yegge spent five seasons as the hitting coach at Indiana State and had his first coaching opportunity at North Iowa Area Community College. He was the head coach there from 1999-02 after serving as an assistant for two years.
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