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ABOUT
Info provided by Boston College Sports Information; Extra Inning Softball College Correspondent Justin McLeod contributed to this story…
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William V. Campbell Director of Athletics Martin Jarmond has announced the hiring of Amy Kvilhaug as the new head coach of the Boston College softball program.
Kvilhaug becomes the fifth head coach in program history after a successful 12-year tenure as head coach at St. John’s.
Boston College posted an 18-35 overall record during the 2019 season, including a 4-20 mark in conference play. The Eagles posted a team batting average of .249, while the program’s pitching staff collected a 5.22 cumulative ERA.
During her 12-year tenure, Kvilhaug helped the Johnnies to seven Big East tournament appearances. The pinnacle of her coaching career at St. John’s came during the 2015 campaign when she guided the team to the program’s first NCAA tournament appearance in 35 years.
“Amy is a proven winner who will be a perfect fit in leading our softball program,” said Jarmond. “She has a history of turning her programs around and developing young women holistically. She is highly regarded in the softball coaching community for her ability to coach, recruit and develop student-athletes for success both on the diamond and in life. We are thrilled to welcome Amy to our BC family.”
Prior to Boston College, Kvilhaug was named the eighth head coach in program history at St. John’s in 2006. The former St. John’s coach is coming off of a notable 2018 season that featured her 400th career win. Kvilhaug has tallied a total 408 victories, including 281 at St. John’s.
At the time of her retirement, Kvilhaug said, “I am simply ready for a new chapter in my life and will still be coaching, just in a different capacity and with a much different schedule as I begin my career as a life and performance coach.”
In her last season at St. John’s in 2018, the Johnnies recorded 62 home runs to break the program single-season home run record of 45. Additionally, the Johnnies made their fifth-straight appearance in the Big East Tournament.
“The opportunity to come back to New England and to coach at a premier institution like Boston College is amazing,” said Kvilhaug. “To complete in one of the nation’s top conferences in the ACC along with the tremendous new facilities we will play and train in at the Harrington Athletics Village is truly special. I look forward to building a great culture of winning on and off the diamond in our program and can’t wait to begin.”
In 2017, Kvilhaug spearheaded a group that was named the Big East Coaching Staff of the Year after leading to the Johnnies to their second Big East Regular Season title in three years. The 2017 squad set new program-highs with 17 Big East wins and an overall .667 winning percentage.
In addition to reaching its fourth-straight Big East title game, St. John’s matched the 1990 squad for the most wins in program history with 32 and set new single season mark for runs scored, with 277 as well as RBIs with 251.
During her time at the helm of the St. John’s women’s softball program, Kvilhaug mentored three Big East Players of the Year, in Kacee Cox, Erin Burner and Krystal Puga. Additionally, Kvilhaug coached Big East major award winners in 2015 Big East Pitcher of the Year Tori Free and Big East Defensive Player of the Year Gretchen Bowie.
Adding on to Kvilhaug’s list of award winning athletes, she also had 38 players named to Big East All-Conference Teams. On the national level, 10 of her student athletes were named to the NFCA All-Region teams.
In 2015, Kvilhaug led St. John’s to new heights as the squad set program history with its first-ever Big East Regular Season title, Big East Championship title and first NCAA Tournament appearance in 35 years of the program’s history. Because of the team’s tremendous season, Kvilhaug and her staff were named the 2015 Big East Coaching Staff of the Year.
The 2015 squad set the program’s single-season record in Big East wins (16), winning streak (15), walks (152), RBI (243) and batting average (.317) after finishing the year with a 28-19 overall record that included a 16-2 mark in BIG EAST play.
Behind the guidance of Kvilhaug, the St. John’s pitching staff dominated in Big East action where it posted up a 1.40 team ERA with 80 strikeouts in 115.0 innings of work, holding opponents to a .228 batting average after throwing five shutouts.
Led by the 2015 Big East Pitcher of the Year Tori Free, the Red Storm was able to sail its way through conference play to earn the program’s first-ever regular-season title and the number one overall seed in the 2015 Big East Tournament. Included in the impressive pitching of 2015 was the program’s first run-rule no-hitter since 2009 as Francesca Carrullo held Creighton hitless on April 25.
Kvilhaug led the Red Storm to a historic season in 2014, earning a program-record 12 Big East wins on the way to the first ever Big East Championship appearance. Finishing the season with a 28-23 record, the Red Storm recorded its first season over .500 since 2004, marking the best season in Kvilhaug’s first eight years as the head coach.
Kvilhaug also saw the program’s first-ever CoSIDA/Capital One Academic All-American after Jackie Reed earned third team honors in the national accolade. Following the impressive 2014 season that included a 12-8 conference record, Kvilhaug saw five members of her squad earn All-Big East honors including a pair of first-team honors in junior Erin Burner and freshman Kaitlin Fitzgerald.
Before coming to St. John’s, Kvilhaug spent four seasons as head coach of the Radford University Highlanders. While at Radford, she took the program to new heights and molded it into one of the top teams in the Big South Conference. Kvilhaug compiled a 127-115 overall record at Radford. After winning 17 games in her first year, she led her team to three consecutive seasons with 30 or more victories, marking the first time in Radford history that the team had posted back-to-back-to-back winning campaigns.
In 2006, Kvilhaug guided Radford to its first 40-win season and posted a .645 winning percentage. Under her direction, Radford’s pitching staff ranked ninth in the nation with a 1.12 ERA and the Highlanders made their first-ever appearance in a Big South Championship game.
In her four seasons with Radford, Kvilhaug had 17 Highlanders earn all-conference honors. Eight players earned first team recognition, giving Radford more first-teamers in Kvilhaug’s four seasons than in the previous 11 years combined. Kvilhaug was named Big South Co-Coach of the Year in 2005 and left Radford as the all-time wins leader.
Kvilhaug was a four-year standout in the circle for the Providence Friars from 1993-1996 and was inducted into the Providence Athletics Hall of Fame in February of 2019.
She holds seven PC career records, including starts (92), games won (72), complete games (84), earned run average (1.20) and shutouts (27).
She also holds five single-season records and was named Big East Rookie of the Year in 1993. Kvilhaug was named to the All-Big East First Team and to the All-Northeast Region Second Team in 1994. She won 20 or more games in consecutive seasons (1994 and 1995).
Kvilhaug ranks first and second in single-season wins at Providence. She is one of only two Friar pitchers to throw a perfect game (1994). In addition, she helped guide the Friars to 30 or more wins in three of her four seasons at Providence.
Kvilhaug returned to her alma mater as an assistant coach from 1999-2002, after making coaching stops at Seton Hall, Rutgers and Florida Southern.
Kvilhaug graduated from Providence with a bachelor’s degree in marketing and earned a master’s degree in sports management from St. John’s in 2011. She is originally from Taunton, Mass.