Aug. 14, 2012
THE FLATS – Lisa Norris, current pitcher in the National Pro Fastpitch League, has been named the new assistant coach for the reigning ACC Champion Georgia Tech softball team head coach Sharon Perkins announced Monday. Norris will serve as the Yellow Jackets’ pitching coach.
“Lisa will work with our pitching staff and continue to improve on the success we have had,” Perkins said. “As a player, she was one of the toughest ones I have ever coached against. She is equally as good as a coach and a great addition to our Yellow Jacket family.”
Norris has been a pitcher for the Akron Racers for the last four years. In her first professional game with the Racers, Norris pitched a perfect game and led the league with 12 wins. In 2010, she was named Diamond Sports NPF Pitcher of the Year after leading the NPF in wins (14), complete games (16), shutouts (four) and innings pitched (137.2).
“It’s a great opportunity to come work at Georgia Tech. They’ve won three of the last four championships and they are known for being the big school in the ACC. Having the chance to get there and coach with them is a huge step forward and it’s good to be back home in Georgia and where I’m from. It’s a true honor. No stranger to the ACC, Norris served as the pitching coach for NC State from 2011-12 and was a four-year letterwinner at North Carolina from 2006-09, where she compiled a career record of 78-31 (.716).
While at UNC, Norris was a three-time All-Southeast Region selection, a three-time All-ACC honoree and pitched five no hitters. She ranks first in the Tar Heels’ record book in career saves (11) and third in wins (78), strikeouts (808), strikeouts per seven innings pitched (7.92) and opponents’ batting average (.196).
Norris began her coaching career at Texas A&M – Corpus Christi where she served as the pitching coach from 2010-11. The Islanders improved from a 35-22 record in 2010 to a 41-19 mark in 2011. The pitching staff’s ERA jumped from 3.77 to 2.51, while the number of strikeouts almost doubled and the number of hits was reduced by almost 100 during Norris’s tenure.
A native of Snellville, Ga., Norris earned a Bachelor’s degree in interpersonal communications with a minor in exercise and sports science coaching in 2010 from North Carolina.
