Legendary Illinois State softball coach Melinda Fischer will add another milestone to her illustrious career when she is inducted into the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Hall of Fame. She will be honored at the annual NFCA National Convention on December 10 in San Diego, California,
Fischer is one of only 16 active head coaches in NCAA Division I softball to have won at least 800 games in their coaching career. She will be inducted with inductees Chris Bellotto (Florida Southern) and Rhonda Revelle (Nebraska), bumping the elite hall of fame membership to 53 inductees.
As she prepares to enter her 26th season at the helm of the Redbird softball program, Fischer remains the all-time winningest coach in Illinois State Athletics history, She was tabbed as the head coach of the Missouri Valley Conference All-Centennial Team. With a combined nine Missouri Valley Conference and Gateway Athletic Conference regular-season championships, Fischer has been named the league’s coach of the year six times.
Fischer’s 849 career victories, spread out among 28 seasons as a collegiate head coach at both Eastern Illinois and Illinois State, rank her as the 40th-winningest coach in NCAA Division I softball history and the 16th-winningest active head coach.
