MENOMONIE (July 27, 2021) – UW-Stout softball coach Becky Iaccino has resigned after six years at the helm of the Blue Devil program to move with family to Central Minnesota.
Chris Iliopoulos, who has been an assistant with the program the last four seasons, will serve as interim head coach through the 2022 season.
“Over my entire career, I have always put my professional life ahead of my personal life,” Iaccino said. “This past year, when I was forced away from softball due to COVID-19, I was able to slow down and see things through a different lens. During time away, I realized how important my outside life meant to me and I feel this is the right time to choose my personal life. This has been the most difficult decision I’ve ever had to make, but I know deep down, this is the right thing for me to do, for me and those I love.”
Iaccino reached her 100th career win this past season and the Blue Devil teams in 2017 and 2018 were within one game of advancing to the WIAC tournament championship game. The 2018 team finished at 23-12 and the 2019 team finished at 19-18 overall with a strength-of-schedule that was second in the country, downing several top 25 teams.
When asked about highlights during her tenure with the Blue Devils, Iaccino said there are so many dates, times and events that stand out, but what she will remember most goes beyond the Xs and Os, the wins and losses.
“What I will remember most are the relationships we built,” Iaccino said, “and watching them grow into the women they have become.”
During Iaccino’s tenure, the Blue Devils gathered 17 all-conference selections, seven of them first team picks. Outfielder Mary Iliopoulos infielder Kyncaide Diedrich were twice all-region picks. Tori Workman and Beth Wood were selected as the WIAC’s Judy Kruckman Scholar-Athlete and 15 earned UW-Stout Scholar-Athlete awards. Wood earned CoSIDA Academic All-America honors. Nicole Rogers and Renee Murphy received the WMG Humanitarian Award. The Blue Devils’ team GPA was between 3.49 and 3.631.
Iaccino has been especially proud of the academic achievements of her student-athletes over the years and she didn't have to go far in the Sports and Fitness Center to be reminded.
“I love walking around the Sports and Fitness Center looking at all of our scholar-athletes on the wall,” Iaccino said. “When I see the softball players (posters) on the wall it brings a smile to my face and one extra moment I get to remember that person’s legacy to Stout softball.”
Iaccino was also an instructor in the school’s Kinesiology, Health, Food and Nutrition Sciences department.
“I had an absolutely wonderful experience here,” Iaccino said. “(UW-Stout athletic director) Duey (Naatz) and (associate athletic director) Erin (Sullivan) have been so supportive of what we were doing here. I thank them for allowing me the opportunity to take on this role and they have been so supportive in this transition.”
“We thank Becky for her passion for softball and the players in her program” Naatz said. “We wish her nothing but the best in the future.”
“I want to thank my assistants over the years, Lynn Johnson and Katie Johnson in my first year,” Iaccino said. “And Chris Iliopoulos, Jessica Stine and Sam Hintzman for all their support, work, passion and love for Blue Devil softball. We are today who we are because of their undying support.”
With Iliopoulos at the helm, Iaccino said the program is in good hands in the future.
“Chris has been an integral part of us building the program to be a competitive softball program and I am confident he will take this program in the direction that we’ve dreamed it would go,” Iaccino said.
Prior to coming to UW-Stout in the 2015-16 school year, Iaccino was an assistant coach at Indiana State, Elmhurst College and Concordia-Chicago, as well as a stint as the head coach at Marian University where she was named the Lake Michigan Conference coach of the year.
Iaccino played collegiately at Indiana State University where she served as the team’s captain and earned all-conference honors. Upon graduation, Iaccino played professionally in Italy from 2003 to 2011. Some highlights from her club career include playing for Bollati in 2003, which won the Italian Softball League championship, and playing in 2007 with Forli, which won the European Cup Championship. In her final season, she won a Gold Glove and was named an All-Star while playing for Macerata.
Iaccino also played for the Italian National team from 2005 to 2007. During that time, Italy won consecutive European Championships, their seventh and eighth titles overall. In 2006, the team finished sixth in the International Softball Federation World Championships in Beijing, China and, in 2007, finished second in the EURAFRICA Olympic Qualifier, one out from qualifying to the Olympic Games.
NOTE FROM COACH IACCINO TO ALL OF HER PLAYERS: I would like to thank all the players that have come through our program for giving me the honor of being a part of their college experience and life. You have left a wonderful and beautiful impact on me that I will carry with forever in my heart. It has been such an honor to have been a part of your life and get to know you off the field just as much as getting to know you on the field. I'm beyond proud of you and am so excited for what is to come! I love you all so much more than you will ever know! Thank you for your undying dedication, devotion and drive to make Blue Devil softball the type of program that breeds love, inclusion, heart, tenacity and resiliency! Your legacy will forever be carried on for years to come! #lastinglegacy #bdsb #bleedblue – Love, Coach
