Holy Name High School is pleased to announce that Jeanette Howard has been hired as the school’s next head varsity fastpitch softball coach. Howard’s tenure as head coach will begin immediately. She replaces Mark Skapin, who coached the Green Wave for one year before departing due to family reasons.
Since January 2008, Howard has served as the owner, instructor and coach at Explosive Fastpitch, LLC. She has instructed over 500 Northeast Ohio athletes, and trains more than 10 competitive tournament teams. Her teams have won two national championships (NSA and USSSA), and she has helped more than 50 athletes obtain college scholarships.
Howard also was the head varsity fastpitch softball coach at Strongsville High School from October 2005 to June 2011. During her time at Strongsville, she led the team to a regional championship in 2007 and was also named the 2007 Cuyahoga County Coach of the Year.
A 2005 graduate of Baldwin Wallace University with a degree in communications and public relations, Howard also played fastpitch softball for the Yellow Jackets. She was a team captain during the 2004 and 2005 seasons, and earned second team All-Ohio Athletic Conference honors in 2004 and first team All-OAC honors in 2005. A native of the Cleveland area, Howard was a standout player at Valley Forge High School in Parma Heights. Then Jeanette Brezina, she was a two-time Team MVP, a three-time Lake Erie League first team all-conference selection, a two-time LEL MVP and a two-time member of the The Plain Dealer All Star Team.
Howard inherits a Green Wave team that made it to the 2015 Division II LaGrange District Final. Five seniors graduated from last year’s team, including Abbey Yaugher, who was named a Division II All-Ohio Honorable Mention and is now playing at Walsh University. However, the team returns several starters, including first team all-district honorees sophomore Cassie Bily and junior Andrea Spinelli.