Kellyn Marie Tate (born October 16, 1975) is an American

softball Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...

coach and former outfielder. She has been the head softball coach at

University of Puget Sound The University of Puget Sound (UPS or Puget Sound) is a private university in Tacoma, Washington. The university draws approximately 2,600 students from 44 states and 16 countries. It offers 1,200 courses each year in more than 50 traditional an ...

since 2012. She previously held coaching positions at

Portland State Portland State University (PSU) is a public research university in Portland, Oregon. It was founded in 1946 as a post-secondary educational institution for World War II veterans. It evolved into a four-year college over the following two decades ...

, Miami (Ohio),

Texas Tech Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas. Established on , and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the main institution of the five-institution Texas Tech University Sys ...

, and

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campu ...

. Tate played college softball at the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

where she was a first-team All-

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

player each year from 1996 to 1998. Her career batting average of .357 is the fourth highest in Michigan history. She later played professional softball for the Orlando Wahoos (1998),

Akron Racers The Akron Racers were a women's softball team based in Akron, Ohio. They have moved to Cleveland and been renamed the Cleveland Comets in 2018. The team was started by Joey Arietta in 1999 to participate in the Women's Pro Softball League (WPSL). ...

(1999-2000), WPSL All-Stars (2001), and California Sunbirds (2004).

Early years

Tate is a native of

Chesterfield, Missouri Chesterfield is a city in St. Louis County, Missouri, United States. It is a western suburb of St. Louis. As of the 2020 census, the population was 49,999, . The broader valley of Chesterfield was originally referred to as "Gumbo Flats", derived ...

, a suburb of

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

. She played high school softball for Parkway West High School and led the team to consecutive state championships.

University of Michigan and Team USA

Tate committed to play

college softball College softball is softball as played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education, predominantly in the United States. College softball is normally played by women at the Intercollegiate level, whereas college baseball is nor ...

at the

in November 1993. She enrolled at Michigan in the fall of 1994 and was an outfielder for the

Michigan Wolverines softball The Michigan Wolverines softball team represents the University of Michigan in National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) Division I competition. College softball became a varsity sport at the University of Michigan in 1978. Bonnie Thol ...

team under head coach

Carol Hutchins Carol Sue Hutchins (born May 26, 1957) is an American former softball coach. In 38 years as the head coach of Michigan Wolverines softball, (1985–2022), she won more games than more than any other coach in University of Michigan history in any ...

from 1995 to 1998. She received honors as an NFCA second-team All-American (1998), NFCA third-team All-American (1996), NFCA first-team All-Great Lakes Region (1996, 1998), and All-

first-team (1996, 1997, 1998). She was also a co-captain of Michigan's 1998 team. She helped lead Michigan to three Big Ten championships, four Big Ten Tournament titles, and four trips to the

Women's College World Series The Women's College World Series (WCWS) is the final portion of the NCAA Division I softball tournament for college softball in the United States. Eight teams participate in the WCWS, which begins with a double-elimination tournament. In other wo ...

. She remains among Michigan's all-time career leaders in batting average (.357 - 4th), hits (272 - 7th), triples (12 - T-6th), sacrifice hits (48 - 3rd), and stolen bases (45 - 8th). Tate received a bachelor's degree in sports management and communications from Michigan in 1998. She later received a master's degree in higher education from Texas Tech in 2003. Tate also played for the United States National Softball Team as a member of the national team from 1996 to 1997.

Professional softball

Tate was drafted by the Orlando Wahoos in the 1998 WPSL Senior Draft. She played professional softball in the WPSL and

National Pro Fastpitch National Pro Fastpitch (NPF), formerly the Women's Pro Softball League (WPSL), was a professional women's softball league in the United States. The teams battled for the Cowles Cup. The WPSL was founded in 1997 and folded in 2001; the NPF revive ...

for the Wahoos (1998),

(1999-2000), WPSL All-Stars (2001), and California Sunbirds (2004). She had her best season in 1999 when she was runner up to the WPSL Hitter of the Year title with a .320 batting average, 56 hits and 19 extra base hits, but lost to Tampa Bay Firestix' Marty Laudato, who finished the 1999 campaign ranked in the top five in four offensive categories, including batting average (.311-2nd), home runs (8-2nd ), RBI (36-2nd) and slugging percentage (.480-4th).

Coaching career

In July 2012, Tate was hired as the head coach of the softball team at the

. In her first year at Puget Sound, the team compiled a 2-37 () record. Prior to taking over as the head coach at Puget Sound, Tate had worked for 14 years as an assistant coach at Portland State (2010-2012), Miami (Ohio) (2006-2009), Texas Tech (2003-2006), and Penn State (1998-2001).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tate, Kellyn 1975 births Living people Akron Racers players Michigan Wolverines softball players American softball coaches Penn State Nittany Lions softball coaches Texas Tech Red Raiders softball coaches People from Chesterfield, Missouri Sportspeople from St. Louis County, Missouri Softball players from Missouri Miami RedHawks softball coaches