Pfeiffer University’s lead softball coach, Monte Sherrill, was recently named one of the top 100 college coaches by ExtraInningSoftball.com.
The Top-100 list features mainly Division I coaches and assistants and only seven Division III coaches are on the list, with Sherrill being the sole representative of the Southern USA.
Of the Top-100, only four coaches from the state of North Carolina are included. In addition to Sherrill, Jennifer Patrick-Swift (NC State), Donna Poppa (North Carolina) and Marissa Young (Duke) made the list.
Sherrill, who graduated from Pfeiffer in 1987, enters his sixth season in charge of the Falcon program and has set an overall record of 174-37 since returning to The Village. Its winning percentage of 0.821 is currently the highest winning percentage across all NCAA divisions.
Since arriving at Pfeiffer, Sherrill has devised the biggest turnaround in the school’s history, with his 2016 team completely rewriting the Falcon’s record book.
Pfeiffer won the Conference Carolinas tournament titles in 2016 and a regular season title in 2018. Pfeiffer rose to second position in the NFCA NCAA Division II ranking in 2018 and ended with a 46-8 overall score, earning Coach of the Year honors. of the Sherrill Conference, his first at a collegiate level.
After reclassification to Division III, Sherrill took Pfeiffer to the ECAC championships in 2018 and 2019 with the Falcons taking down Penn State-Behrend in both years by the 10-race rule.
In 2020, Pfeiffer finished 16-1 after a shortened season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Prior to Pfeiffer, Sherrill won 10 NCHSAA 4A championships and made 13 final appearances. Of these titles, he won seven at Alexander Central High School and three at Central Cabarrus High School. Throughout his high school career, Sherrill posted an impressive overall record of 753-60 and has a playoff record of 104-20 and is the only coach to have won NCHSAA titles at two different schools. He also won 26 consecutive high school conference titles.
In 2013, Sherrill was inducted into the Pfeiffer Sports Hall of Fame and is also a member of the North Carolina Softball Coaches Association Hall of Fame and has twice been named the NFCA National Technical Team on two occasions.
In addition, he excels at maintaining softball fields, as during his tenure at Alexander Central, his facilities won the National NFCA High School Field of the Year.