JoEllen Bailey, a 1973 Glenville High School graduate, was recently inducted into the Minnesota High School Softball Coaches Hall of Fame. The ceremony was held March 13 at the Southview Country Club in West St. Paul. The program was sponsored by the Minnesota Fastpitch Coaches’ Association and Dudley Sports.

Bailey was the head softball coach at Southland High School in Adams from 1982 to 1989 where her record was 128 wins and 44 losses. Her teams won four conference championships, had five region appearances, and four state tournament appearances. Southland was the state softball champion in 1988 with a 24-0 record.

Bailey was also the head softball coach at Winona State College for five years and at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire from 1995 to 1999. At Eau Claire her record was 161-60. Her team placed fourth in the NCAA Division III tournament in 1999.

Other honors for Bailey have been the 1988 Minnesota Region Softball Coach of the Year, the 1989 Outstate Head Coach at Minnesota’s first All-Star series, and the 1997 Wisconsin Women’s Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Softball coach of the year.

Bailey recently received her Ph.D. in Physical Education Pedagogy from the University of Northern Colorado and is currently an assistant professor at the State University of New York College in Cortland, New York.