New women’s softball coach seeks to carry on winning tradition on and off the field

The hunt for a new Lady Falcons head softball coach is over with the selection of Keli Harrell.

Harrell, who spent the last year as an assistant coach at Campbell University in Buies Creek, North Carolina, brings nearly a decade of experience with her to Daytona Beach. A seasoned sage of the sport, Keli served as assistant coach and graduate assistant coach in NCAA Division I programs at Campbell University, the University of Louisiana Monroe and East Carolina University. She was an allstar pitcher at East Carolina University, where she broke and set many of the Pirate’s pitching records. Keli also played professionally and led the European Cup in strikeouts in 2009.

“Keli comes to us with an excellent track record and the kind of leadership we want to impart on our student-athletes,” said DSC President Tom LoBasso. “We have set a high bar for academic and athletic performance at Daytona State, and we believe Keli will be a great asset to advancing our women’s softball program in both areas.”

Harrell said she feels fortunate to be entrusted with leading Daytona State’s softball program forward. “I am so excited to embark on this new journey. I can’t wait to help build upon an already great reputation of academics and athletics. I have always considered Daytona State to be one of the premier jobs in the country. Our team core values, program standards and daily purpose will be to assist young women in reaching their full potential and becoming productive members of society through the values learned in our Falcon softball program.”

Coach Harrell spoke on what the fans can expect in the coming season. “Our style of play will be disciplined and exciting! We will take pride in doing the little things in order to get big results. Reliable pitching and defense will be the cornerstone of our game, as well as overall physical fitness and mental preparedness. We will play a fundamental, yet aggressive style of play and try to balance our offense with speed and power. This will be a fun team to support and watch play the game of softball.”

DSC Athletic Director Will Dunne said he anticipates big things from Harrell’s style of leadership. “When you find a young coach with Keli’s vision, work ethic, passion and pedigree, you know you’re getting a quality coach who’s not only going to be a great leader on the softball field, but also someone who will bring the best out of our student-athletes as citizens in our community and students in the classroom as well.”

Harrell joins a strong Falcon athletics program that boasts nearly 200 student-athletes with 130 athletic scholarships in 10 varsity sports, including men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s soccer, women’s golf, men’s and women’s cross country, fast-pitch softball, baseball and volleyball. DSC offers an all-around sports complex, including the L. Gale Lemerand Health, Wellness and Community Education Center, an indoor pool, two top-notch playing fields for baseball and softball, a field house, and a newly built state-of-the-art soccer stadium featuring a Daktronics videoboard.

DAYTONA STATE MAGAZINE • FALL/WINTER 2018