Jessica Coan in entering her third year on UNG softball staff, including her second as the graduate assistant coach. Prior to returning to Dahlonega as a coach, Coan traveled to Europe where she played professionally for the Mannheim Tornados, a baseball ans softball club based in Mannheim, Germany.
During her two seasons as a player at North Georgia, the Duluth, Ga. native was one of the top pitchers in both the Peach Belt Conference and the Southeast Region, claming numerous awards including three All-American honors in addition to the 2011 Ron Lentz National Player of the Year.
As a senior in 2012, Coan boasted a 1.44 earned run average in 233 innings of wor. She retired 332 total batters by strikeout (10.42 per game) and posted a league-best 25-8 record.
She ended her time at North Georgia as the all-time leader in ERA (1.27) and strikeouts per seven innings (10.57). She posted a career record of 52-13 with 49 complete games, 441.1 innings pitched and 666 strikeouts.
In one of the most dominating pitching performances in the history of NCAA Division II softball, Coan punched out 19 batters, the second most in NCAA Division II softball history, in a seven-inning win over Lenoir-Rhyne on March 4, 2011. She was one strikeout away from tying Dori Stankewitz from Florida Southern who recorded 20 strikeouts in a win over Tampa on March 14, 1987.
Prior to coming to North Georgia, Coan was part of the pitching staff at Georgia Tech from 2008 to 2010. In her two seasons as a Yellow Jacket, she held a 2.94 ERA in 51 appearances and 25 starts. She was 23-6 in 173.1 innings and totaled 227 strikeouts.
