Clay softball coach Radabaugh hits milestone with 400th win

4/25/2013

Clay softball coach Brenda Radabaugh earned her 400th career victory Saturday.

Radabaugh, who is in her 13th season at Clay, has led the Eagles to a 13-1 start this season. Radabaugh captured her 400th win with a 14-4 victory over Pickerington North in a tournament game at Gahanna Lincoln.

Radabaugh also coached for nine seasons at Central Catholic and has an overall career record of 402-150 in 22 total seasons.

“To me it means I've been blessed with a lot of very good players over the years because without them it wouldn't happen,” Radabaugh said. “On top of that I've had outstanding assistant coaches.

“It means I've been around a long time and I'm getting old. I've been coaching longer than my players have been alive.”

She has a career record of 249-92 at Clay.

Prior to taking over at Clay in 2001, Radabaugh compiled a 153-58 record at Central from 1992-2000. She led the Irish to a City League title in 2000.

Radabaugh's teams have surpassed the 20-win mark 10 times.

Clay has captured seven league titles under Radabaugh. The Eagles won Great Lakes League titles in 2001, 2002, and 2003, City League titles in 2006, 2007, 2009, and 2010. They finished runner-up in the Three Rivers Athletic Conference last season.

Her teams have won 12 sectional championships. She led Central to the regional semifinals in 1998, and guided Clay to the regional semis in 2002 and to the regional title game in 2009.

Radabaugh, a graduate of Edon, said her high school did not have a fast-pitch softball team until her senior season. She then walked on at the University of Toledo and earned a partial scholarship.

Radabaugh said she realized she was close to the milestone when she filled out paperwork for a coaches association prior to the season.

“I realized I needed 11 to hit 400,” she said. “So I knew it had to happen this year.”

But she lost track and did not realize it had happened until her players greeted her enthusiastically after the win on Saturday.

“It was funny. It surprised me,” she said. “They had cookies and T-shirts.”

Radabaugh said the sport has changed over the years, especially with technology. She said she doesn't expect to retire any time soon and has her sights set on 500 wins.

“I've enjoyed the sport, and the kids are fun,” Radabaugh said. “I've had so many dedicated kids and outstanding assistant coaches.”

Contact Mark Monroe at: mmonroe@theblade.com, 419-724-6354 or on Twitter @MonroeBlade.