South Carolina softball coach Ashley Chastain Woodard named National Coach of the Year
On Wednesday, South Carolina softball coach Ashley Chastain Woodard earned recognition as D1Softball’s National Coach of the Year.
The outlet picked Chastain Woodard for the honor based on a historic first year in garnet and black. The Gamecock alum arrived in Columbia after a successful run as the leader of the Charlotte 49ers, and she promptly led South Carolina to its first-ever NCAA Tournament national seed since the modern adoption of the Regional-Super Regional-College World Series format. 2025 also marked just the third Super Regional appearance for the program.
Under Chastain Woodard’s leadership, Carolina went 44-17 overall and 13-11 in SEC play. The Gamecocks’ 44 victories were the program’s most since 2018, a year in which they played five additional games. This spring was USC’s first winning season in SEC play since that same 2018 campaign. They had been 32-84 in conference games over the previous six seasons.
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Chastain Woodard is the only South Carolina softball coach ever to win 40 games in her first season. She also led her Gamecocks to just their fifth 44-win season since joining the SEC in 1997. Adding to the merit of Chastain Woodard’s accomplishments, her team was picked 15th out of 15 teams in the preseason SEC poll. The modern SEC might be the best it has ever been, but Chastain Woodard and the Gamecocks didn’t flinch.
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South Carolina’s offense set new team records this season for doubles, runs, and RBI. On defense, Chastain Woodard’s group set a new mark for team fielding percentage. She also helped lead several players to great seasons at USC.
First baseman Arianna Rodi, a transfer who followed Chastain Woodard from Charlotte, set a new South Carolina softball single-season home run record. The right-handed slugger was great all year, swatting 17 total long balls. She joined four other Gamecocks on the NFCA Mid-Atlantic All-Region team. Senior pitcher Sam Gress also earned draft selection by Fastpitch United Pro Series Softball’s Florida Vibe.
