SOFTBALL | COACHES

Chuck Sosnowski | Softball Head Coach

Chuck Sosnowski is entering his third season as the head coach of the UMSL softball program going into the 2008 season. He had been the assistant softball coach at UMSL for two seasons before taking over as the head coach.

Last year, Sosnowski led a revamped UMSL offense that set numerous school records, including most home runs in a season (32) and most players (10) on one team hitting a home run in the same season. The .292 team batting average during the 2007 season was the highest for an UMSL team since the 1999 season and was the fifth highest in school history. The .429 slugging percentage set a new school team record and the 230 runs scored were the third highest in school history.
Prior to working at UMSL, he served as the head softball coach at Hudson Valley Community College in Troy, N.Y., for two seasons. He led the team to the NJCAA Region III Championship in 2002 and finished runner up at the NJCAA Division III National Tournament. Sosnowski earned Mountain Valley Conference Coach of the Year honors in 2002 as well.

Sosnowski served two stints on the coaching staff at Herkimer County Community College in Herkimer, N.Y. He served as the assistant coach in 1990 and the head coach in 1991. After a four-year break, he returned to serve as the head coach from 1996 through 1998. In all four seasons as head coach at Herkimer (1991, 1996–1998) he guided the team to the Mountain Valley Conference Championship. Sosnowski earned Mountain Valley Conference Coach of the Year honors three consecutive seasons, 1996, 1997 and 1998, and was named the NJCAA Region III Coach of the Year in 1996 and again in 1998. He led the team to an NJCAA Region II Championship in 1996 and a runner up finish in 1998. In 1998, he led the team to a fourth-place finish at the NJCAA Division III National Tournament. In his six seasons as a head coach at the junior college level, he has compiled a career record of 168-52, including a 41-win season at Herkimer in 1998.

Sosnowski is a graduate of Cortland State where he received a bachelor of science in physical education in 1990.

Carrie Tanner | Assistant Softball Coach

P: 314-516-5685

Carrie Tanner (Burgess) was named assistant coach at UMSL in October 2005. Her primary responsibilities with the Tritons will be as a pitching coach as well as assisting in recruiting.

She has coached youth softball since 1997 and was head coach for the St. Louis Marauders for five years, reaching a national ranking of 17th in the A.S.A. Nationals with the 12-under team. Tanner was the pitching coach for the St. Louis Lightning for two years and helped lead the team to a fifth-place finish at the A.S.A. Nationals in 2002. She is a well known pitching coach in the St. Louis area, having taught pitching lessons for the past five years under the guidance of George Jones.

Tanner is a native of the St. Louis area and a graduate of Hazelwood West High School. While there, she was a pitcher all four years and led the team to a second-place finish in the 1989 state tournament, and a fourth-place finish in the 1991 state tournament. She received a scholarship to Western Illinois and spent summers playing on various select teams in the St. Louis area, including the St. Louis Force, St. Louis Sting and St. Louis Patriots.