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News Release

Jill Dorsch Named Assistant Softball Coach at UMBC

1/15/2010

BALTIMORE—UMBC head softball coach Joe French announced today that former Robert Morris standout Jill Dorsch has been named assistant coach.

“It is with great pleasure that I welcome Jill to the UMBC softball family,” French said. “She was one of the best hitters in Robert Morris history and also did a fantastic job at St. Francis as an assistant coach for the past two years. What stands out right away about Jill is her high level of enthusiasm, energy and love and knowledge of the game. Her experience at two mid-major universities will aid us in not only the day-to-day operations of softball, but also in recruiting. Her talents will greatly enhance our program right away.”

Dorsch spent the last two seasons as an assistant coach at St. Francis (Pa.), where she served as both the pitching and hitting instructor and helped guide the Red Flash to the 2008 Northeast Conference Tournament, the team’s first postseason appearance in six years. While at St. Francis, she was responsible for all NCAA compliance requirements, monitoring the players’ academics and developing strength and conditioning programs for the team.

A four-year starter at Robert Morris, Dorsch etched her name in the Colonial record books from 2004-07. Her career .345 batting average currently ranks second all-time at Robert Morris, while her 166 hits rank fifth. The catcher never batted below .300 in any of her four years, and she holds three of the top 25 single-season batting averages in program history.

In 2006, Dorsch was named to the All-NEC First Team with a .396 batting average, which ranked second in the league and is the third-best ever by a Colonial player. That season, Dorsch also earned CoSIDA/ESPN the Magazine Academic All-District honors. A year later, she batted .343 and was selected to the All-NEC Second Team.

Dorsch was a member of the 2005 Robert Morris team that won the Northeast Conference regular-season and tournament championships and made the program’s first-ever appearance in the NCAA Regionals. In 2006, she helped lead the Colonials to a share of the NEC regular-season title.

Dorsch was invited to play for USA Athletes International in Sydney, Australia, during the summer of 2006. She also represented Robert Morris at the NCAA Leadership Conference that fall and was a member of the Colonials’ Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.

“I am very excited and appreciative to accept this job at UMBC,” Dorsch said. “I am looking forward to helping them as they begin their quest to win an America East championship. I would like to thank Coach French and everyone at UMBC for this opportunity, and I can’t wait to get started. This is a great opportunity to have the chance to work at such a great academic institution and an outstanding softball program.”

A native of Pittsburgh, Dorsch earned her bachelor’s degree in business administration with a focus in sports management from Robert Morris in 2007 and her master’s degree in education from St. Francis University in 2009.