MUSCLE SHOALS, ALA. — Northwest Shoals Community College (NWSCC) announces the hiring of Laken DiStefano and Kolby Robinson as the softball and baseball assistant coaches.
According to Patriots Athletic Director Taylor Franks, the addition of DiStefano and Robinson give the Patriots a well-rounded staff for the 2022-2023 season. “Our coaches, Langston and Brown, did a great job selecting assistant coaches to help compliment their strengths as coaches,” said Franks. “Both our assistant coaches have had successful playing careers at the four-year level and are passionate about teaching and growing our student athletes into the best version of themselves on the field and off.”
DiStefano is a native of Florence and an alum of Central High School. She received the TimesDaily 4A-6A pitcher of the year two years in a row while also receiving awards for All-Area team, All-Region team, selected for the North/South All-Star game, and All-State tournament team in 2016. While at Central she had over 1,000 career strikeouts and .400 plus batting average.
She played collegiate softball for the University of North Alabama (UNA). As a pitcher at UNA, she received such honors as Gulf South Conference (GSC) Freshman of the week, GSC Pitcher of the week, selected for First Team All GSC team, and earned All-South region honors by Division II Conference Commissioner’s Association. DiStefano graduated with a Bachelor of Science with a minor in Sociology.
DiStefano finished her collegiate career at Union University. There, she helped lead her team to the GSC tournament for only the second time in school history. She finished the season with 20 appearances and 14 starts. She finished sixth in the conference in strikeouts and third in the conference in saves.
Robinson graduated from Cullman High School in 2016, where he helped to lead the Bearcats to three state championship appearances and ultimately claiming the state title in 2016. He was selected first team all-state. He then played two years at Wallace State-Hanceville Community College. There he earned a 2018 National Junior College Athletic Association Gold Glove for his play on the infield.
He finished his collegiate career at the University of Alabama where he made the SEC Spring Academic Honor roll in 2019 and was College Sports Information Directors of America Academic All-District IV Team (2020). Robinson graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Education, majoring in Human Performance in Exercise Science.
NWSCC will begin fall semester classes August 18. The Patriots will play their first fall exhibition baseball game at Bevill State Community College-Fayette on the Fayette campus on September 9. The Patriots will play their first fall exhibition softball game at the University of Tennessee Southern on September 10.
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About Northwest Shoals Community College:
Northwest Shoals Community College (NWSCC) is part of the Alabama Community College System and home to almost 3,400 students. NWSCC has campuses in Muscle Shoals and Phil Campbell, Ala. NWSCC offers over 100 certificate and degree programs and is committed to providing career technical, academic, and lifelong educational opportunities that promote economic growth and enrich the quality of life for the people it serves.