PRESQUE ISLE — University of Maine at Presque Isle softball head coach Peter Coffin has resigned his position after leading the Owl program for the past three seasons.
During Coffin’s tenure, the Owl softball program made great strides by upgrading the level of competitiveness and playing full NCAA schedules against many regional Div. III powers.
This past season saw several Owl hitters make tremendous individual improvements. GSAC All-Conference outfielder Amanda Allen increased her batting average by 150 points, Presque Isle native Katie Patenaude improved by 110 points and the senior duo of Brittany Luetjen and Krista Coffin saw batting average increases of 145 and 136 points, respectively.
In all, each of the seven returning players saw batting average improvements of at least 40 points and the team raised the cumulative Owl batting averageto .279 from .224 in 2013.
“For three years, I have enjoyed coaching great kids and representing UMPI, but with additional work responsibilities and wanting to make more time for my family, it is best for me to resign now and allow new leadership to grab the reigns.” Coffin added, “I graduated from UMPI and was honored that I had the chance to coach collegiately at my alma mater.”
Under Coffin’s tutelage, his daughter Krista Coffin became one of the nation’s finest two-way players, hitting .391 in her final season to add to her outstanding work from the mound during her four-year career. The younger Coffin made most of her noise from the pitching circle however, ranking as one of the nation’s most prominent strikeout artists in 2014 by averaging 7.58 strikeouts per seven innings. During her career, she had wins in 18 of the Owls’ 34 victories. Eleven of the victories came with her father at the helm.
“I have always been very appreciative of Peter’s attention to detail and effort toward supporting a quality softball program here at UMPI,” said UMPI athletic director Paul Stone. “Peter has always represented our university with the utmost professionalism and care. As a graduate and former athletic director, he always had the big picture in mind and was willing to battle head on the unique challenges of coaching an outdoor spring sport in northern Maine.”
