Chris Stainer

Title

Head Softball Coach
Email

stainerc@uwstout.edu
Phone

715-232-1336 / 715-308-3223

The 2015 season marked Chris Stainer's 17th and final year at the helm of the UW-Stout fastpitch team. | Story | (A national search for a replacement is underway)

The 2015 Blue Devils qualified to the WIAC Tournament, knocking off second seeded UW-Whitewater in the first round of the tournament. Pitcher Tori Workman earned all-WIAC honors for the second consecutive season and continued a torrid pace, racking up 158 strikeouts. Workman needs only 13 Ks to break the school career strikeout record. Designated player Taylor Workman was named to the all-WIAC honorable mention squad for the second year and her third year on the all conference team.

The 2014 season saw the Blue Devils work their way through a weather-scarred conference schedule and take the top spot and host the conference tournament. Stout put together a 27-12 overall record, their most wins since the 2004 season, and were 12-1 in conference games, earning the No. 1 seed in the WIAC Tournament. Stainer was named the WIAC coach of the year, only the second Blue Devil softball coach to earn the honor and Tori Workman was named the WIAC pitcher of the year after setting a new school single season strikeout record. Workman earned all-region honors, as did catcher Sam Hastings. Lynzi Knudtson led the WIAC in sacrifice hits and was third in the NCAA.

Weather-ruled the 2013 season, a season the Blue Devils did not get to play a home game on Alumni Field throughout the entire wintery spring. The Blue Devils proved to be resourceful and played all of their home games on the artificial surface of Don and Nona Williams Stadium, as did several other WIAC teams. Designated player Taylor Workman earned first team all-conference honors, as did Sam Hastings. Workman earned all-region honors.

The 2012 season saw the Blue Devils return to the WIAC tournament for the first time in two years. The Blue Devils had all-WIAC players in Alison Gray, Sam Hastngs, Hannah Sweet and Laura Vanderhoof. Sweet was an all-region team. Gray and Tara Kimberly were academic all-district and Gray became the first Blue Devil softball player named Academic All-American.

As a team, the Blue Devils have excelled in the classroom under Stainer, earning team National Fastpitch Coaches of America (NFCA) all-academic honors with a team GPA of 3.4 for the past several seasons.

The Blue Devils are a few years removed from a 25-21 season that saw them win the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Tournament and advance, for the first time, to the NCAA Division III Tournament.

Stainer was the interim softball coach at UW-River Falls before coming to Stout. Prior to that, Stainer was an assistant coach for five years at River Falls, her alma mater, as the Falcons twice qualified to the NCAA Division III playoffs.

A pitcher while playing at River Falls, Stainer was a three-time all-conference pick and, as a senior, was named to the Midwest Region All-American team. She also served as team captain.

Besides coming back to coach in Menomonie, Stainer was very interested in coaching in the WIAC, one of the toughest Division III leagues in the country.

"This conference is very, very competitive," Stainer said. "In Division III, if you want to be anywhere, this is it. The opportunity was there, and so I took it. I have a great advantage in that I am familiar with the conference. I know the strategy (of the conference teams) after having scouted the teams for many years.

Stainer is the third head coach for the Blue Devil softball program, which began in 1992.

(Updated May, 2015)

MENOMONIE (May 20, 2015) – After 17 years of coaching and teaching, Chris Stainer will be stepping down as the UW-Stout head softball coach and as an instructor in the Physical Education Department, effective the end of August.

Stainer looked at her role as the head softball coach as more than a coach. Stainer was a teacher.

"I wanted them to learn they were capable of more than what they had already accomplished," Stainer said. "I wanted to give them a perspective on life.

"We wanted to give the students the tools they needed so they could start to see their own abilities. We wanted to see them succeed."

Stainer, an all-region pitcher at UW-River Falls, was an assistant coach for five years for the Falcons and served one year as the program's interim coach before coming to Stout for the 1998-99 school year. Stainer was inducted into the UW-River Falls Athletic Hall of Fame in 2005. A Menomonie native, Stainer posted a 312-397 overall record and a 294-372 record at Stout.

"We appreciate Chris' commitment to the softball program, to the physical education department and to the Stout community as a whole," said UW-Stout athletic director, Duey Naatz, who has been with the athletic department throughout Stainer's tenure. "Chris is a quality coach and a quality person. On behalf of the entire athletic department, I would like to publicly thank Chris for all she has done."

In her 17 seasons, Stainer's teams produced 27 all-WIAC first team selections,33 all-WIAC honorable mention picks, two conference scholar-athletes, 11 all-region selections and one All-American.

The 2005 team won the WIAC Softball Tournament title, advancing to NCAA play, and the 2014 team earned the No. 1 seed in the conference with a 12-1 league record. Stainer was named the 2014 WIAC Coach of the Year.

"But what I am the most proud of is the 100 percent graduation rate of my four year performers," Stainer said. "I am so proud of what they have accomplished after college. It's not just the degree, but the leadership skills they have learned in athletics. I just hope I made an impact."

The Blue Devil softball program has made it a habit of earning team scholastic honors from the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) on a regular basis. The 2014 team earned a 3.445 cumulative grade point average.

"We tried to implement life lessons throughout the sport that will benefit them," Stainer said.

In addition to coaching, Stainer carried a teaching load that varied between eight and 10 credits per semester. Stainer taught first aid classes, health education and health & fitness classes. At one point, she was supervising student teachers connected with the College of Education.

Stainer wrote the health education minor and the health and fitness minor, which paved the way for the addition of the Health, Wellness and Fitness major. Stainer still oversees the minors programs.

Stainer will be leaving the area, heading to the Tucson, Ariz., area, where her partner accepted a position. At the moment, she has no concrete plans on what lies ahead.

"It was an opportunity my partner could not turn down," Stainer said. "This will just be the next adventure in my life.

"I had an opportunity to coach in one of the best Division III conferences in the nation. I have made great friends, among coaches, officials and players. This is an amazing family that we have here in the (Stout) athletic department. We do truly care for each other."