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2011 SOFTBALL
COACHES
Marissa Young - Head Coach - 3rd Season
Marissa Young enters her third season as the Head Coach of the Concordia University softball team.
In her first season, Young guided the Cardinals to a 10-win season, the second most in the six years since the Concordia softball team put a run together in 2002 making the NAIA National Tournament.
Young, a former standout player at the University of Michigan, is no stranger to success on the softball diamond. After graduating from Mater Dei High School in California, Young headed east to Ann Arbor to be a member of Carol Hutchins' squad at Michigan.
Young, a criminal justice major, excelled for the Maize and Blue as she was named Big Ten Pitcher of the Year in 2002 followed by Big Ten Player of the Year honors in 2003. Young, a three-time All-American, finished her career for the Wolverines as the all-time strikeout leader while also being the all-time home run leader (since broken). Young is also listed in the top five in four other pitching categories in UofM softball lore. Young also went to the NCAA College World Series two of the four years she was a Wolverine.
Young is looking for her 20th win this season and has been working hard over the last couple years to bring stability, growth and traditions to the program. "There was a lot of turnover when I took over the program and my goal was to build a program, a place my players know what to expect, grow as individuals and enjoy being a part of something special." I am very excited about the group of women we have this year. We had a young group last year that is returning committed to hard work, dedicated to improvement, and excited about taking this program to the next level. "I really feel like they get it now, they realize now that this program comes before ‘self' and softball lessons really translate to ‘life lessons'. As a coach I care most about developing my players as strong Christian women, they are people first and softball players second."
Off the field Coach Young enjoys providing instruction for young softball players and spending time with her 3 kids Layla, Jojo and Kayden.
"We are looking forward to juniors and seniors in the program providing leadership we have lacked in the past couple years. We have 4 pitchers on the staff this year which will provide us much needed depth for double headers."
Greg Brierley - Assistant Coach - 1st Season
Greg Brierley was born and raised in Pensacola Florida.He moved with his family to Michigan and he later graduated from Milan High School. While at MHS Greg played baseball, basketball, and football at the varsity level for 3 years in all three sports. Greg attended the Boston Red Sox's Training camp as a catcher prior to attending college.
Greg went to the University of Southern Mississippi where he played football for the Golden Eagles. He later came back to Michigan and studied Fire Science and Fire officer leadership at School Craft College. Greg then attended Michigan State University where he studied Hazardous Material. Greg is currently a Pre-Hospital Trauma Life Support Fire Fighter with the City of Ypsilanti.
Greg was the assistant varsity softball coach at Milan High School. In 2010 he helped lead The Big Reds to the best season in school history with a record of 34-6 playing in the regional Championship game losing by just one run. Greg also was the varsity baseball's pitchers and catchers coach at Milan High school. As the Milan Middle School's head softball coach he lead the Little Reds to an undefeated season winning the League and Tournament Championship. Greg is currently the head coach for the Queens of Diamonds 16u Elite Travel Softball team. As President of the Queens of Diamonds Fast Pitch softball Organization Greg oversees 6 teams (1-12u, 2-14u, 2-16u, & 1- 18u). Moreover Greg is the softball/ baseball pitching, hitting, and catching instructor out of QD Sports in Milan. Greg is an ASA ACE Certified Coach and is a member of the NFCA.
Greg is happily married to Shelly Brierley. They have two children; Cheyenne and Cody. Cheyenne Brierley is a junior at Milan HS and is currently committed to The University at Buffalo in the MAC to play softball. Cody Brierley is in the 7th grade at Milan Middle school following on his dad's footsteps playing baseball, basketball, and football.
Greg and his family reside in Milan, MI.
Andrea Vangoss - Grad Assistant - 1st Season
Andrea Vangoss enters her first season as the softball graduate assistant at Concordia University. Her priorities include developing pitchers, outfielders, and recruiting future Cardinals.
Vangoss came to Concordia University while serving as an assistant coach at Riverview High School since 2005 under Dave Gubbini. She helped local schools in the metro area by running camps, instructing hitters, and assisting pitchers. Vangoss has also developed camps that focused on slap hitting, base running, hitting, and pitching in the state of Tennessee.
In her playing days, Vangoss pitched and played outfield during the 2005-2006 seasons at Macomb Community College, where they won both league and state championship. She then, transferred to Adrian College during the 2007-2008 seasons where she finished her career. She participated in four years of Student Athlete Advisory Committee and was the President in 2007.
"I am very excited to contribute my experiences here at Concordia. I went to a small high school and college so Concordia is a great fit to start my college coaching career. I can't wait to be coaching with Coach Young, University of Michigan is a great softball program and coaching with someone that played there is a huge honor for me. I will definitely be picking her brain on all aspects of softball."
Vangoss earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Secondary Education in 2009 and is pursuing a Master of Science in the field of Education Administration at Concordia University. She currently resides in Dearborn Heights.
"My goal is to motivate each athlete so that they can achieve their full potential, both on and off the field. I am very grateful for this opportunity to be a part of the Concordia University Softball Program."
