Ted Evans begins his sixth year as head coach of Armstrong Atlantic State University, where he has led the Pirates to three NCAA Championships appearances in five seasons, including advancing to the NCAA South Atlantic Regional final in 2007, and three years of national NFCA DII rankings to end the season out of those five seasons.

With a team featuring 10 underclassmen in 2009, the Pirates finished tied for third in the Peach Belt Conference standings and featured four All-PBC performers - first-teamers Nicole Huddleston, Sam Floyd and Emily Headrick, as well as second-teamer Jessica Strong.

AASU finished third in the South Atlantic Regional in 2008, knocking out host UNC Pembroke and GCSU along the way. The Pirates finished with a 30-23 overall record, and a 13-5 Peach Belt Conference mark, good for a second-place finish in the league - AASU's highest league finish since 2004.

The Pirates finished the 2007 season with a 31-18 overall record and a No. 15 national ranking after another impressive regionals run that saw AASU knock off then No. 2-ranked Columbus State, 4-0, to earn a berth in the region final. This came on the heels of the 2006 season in which AASU finished 40-27 with a third-place finish in the South Atlantic regional and a No. 23 final ranking.

Evans joined AASU from Chattanooga State Community College in Chattanooga, Tennessee, in 2005 as the second head fastpitch softball coach in school history. A California native and the son of a highly successful junior high school coach, Evans brings nearly nearly 30 years of teaching and coaching experience to Armstrong Atlantic State. A former professional baseball player in the Cincinnati Reds organization, Evans played and coached competitive men’s fastpitch softball for 17 years. Infused with a self-proclaimed passion for softball, Evans has the reputatio n of a ‘teaching coach’ and has earned credit amongst his peers for his innovative hitting technique.

Evans played for 19 years in the renowned Dixie Major League in Chattanooga, where he was honored as the Chattanooga Softball Player of the Year three times. He was also the player/coach for the McKee fastpitch team for 17 years, guiding the team to 12 city championships and at one time a 101-1 overall record. On February 27, 2006, Evans was inducted into the Greater Chattanooga Sports Hall of Fame.

Evans graduated from Andrews University with a bachelor’s degree in physical education, and earned his master’s of education from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.

Sam Floyd begins her first season as an assistant coach for the Armstrong Atlantic State University softball program in 2010 after completing a sucessful playing career for the Pirates.

Floyd played two seasons for AASU after transferring from Middle Tennessee State. She heard All-PBC honors as a junior and as a senior for the Pirates, hitting .385 in 2009, which ranked fourth in the PBC. She also won 16 games in two seasons as a pitcher for AASU.

A native of Rossville, Ga., Floyd graduated from AASU with her bachelor's degree in 2009 in health science and is currently pursuing a master's degree in sports medicine.

Stephanie Mattes joins the AASU softball coaching staff as a student assistant for the 2010 season.

Mattes finished her two-year career for the Pirates in 2009, playing in 102 games. She hit .285 while going 32-for-33 in stolen base attempts in her two seasons as a Pirate. She delivered the game-winning single in the bottom of the seventh to give AASU a 3-2 win over Albany State on Senior Day in 2009, as well as hitting her first career home run in the bottom of the eighth to give the Pirates a 4-2 win over No. 19 Wingate on March 4, 2009.

A health science major, Mattes will graduate in May of 2010.