East Georgia State College names Hawley Ill as Head Softball Coach
Last edited: March 20, 2023 by
East Georgia State College (EGSC) recently named Hawley Ill the Head Softball Coach for the Lady Bobcats Softball Team. Ill will begin her new role in April and work along side the current interim coach to finish out the season.
“This opportunity would not be possible without the love and support of my family, mentors, and friends through every step of this journey,” stated the energetic Coach Ill. “I would like to thank Interim Athletic Director Theo Howard for entrusting me to lead the young women in our program and I am looking forward to many great seasons ahead.”
“We are excited to have secured a coach of Hawley’s caliber to lead our program. Her experience as a player and coach will be invaluable as she seeks to lead and develop current and future Bobcats,” said Howard. “EGSC would like to welcome Coach Hawley Ill to the Bobcat Family!”
Ill spent the past season as the head softball coach at Johnson University in Kissimmee, Florida, where she worked on building their first-ever softball program in school history.
She started her coaching career fresh out of college as a head coach at NJCAA Wake Technical College in Raleigh, North Carolina, where she led the team to their first-ever conference win, coached three all-conference players, and bolstered the roster size from 9 to 18 players. After Wake Tech, she became the assistant coach at the College of Central Florida in Ocala, Florida, where the team won the Mid-Florida Conference title for the fourth time in six years. The school also won the first FCSAA State (Region 8) Championship in school history, taking down NJCAA No. 3 Chipola and NJCAA No. 1 Florida Southwestern in their final two games. The 2019 team had an amazing year offensively. The Lady Patriots were near the top of every offensive category in the Nation and led the state in homeruns for six years (101- Top 5 in NJCAA). The Lady Patriots also led the State in RBI (519- 2nd NJCAA), hits (703- 3rd NJCAA), and slugging percentage (.626- Top 10 NJCAA), while finishing No. 2 in the state in batting average (.377- Top 15 NJCAA). Coach Ill helped produce the Mid-Florida Conference Pitcher of the Year.
Ill also spent time as an assistant softball coach and pitching coach at NCAA D2 Ursuline College (Pepper Pike, OH), and NAIA Montreat College (Black Mountain, NC).
As a collegiate athlete, Coach Ill earned a variety of accolades throughout the course of her softball career. She attended Chipola College in 2011, then moved to the College of Central Florida where she claimed an accumulation of honors. As a member of the Patriots, she started at all nine positions and notched All-Conference Defense her freshman year before leading the team in runs scored and on-base percentage her sophomore season, earning All-Conference Offense. She continued her career at the University of Pikeville in 2013-14 where she achieved All-Conference Offense Honors once more, while leading the Bears in every offensive statistical category.
Coach Ill then transferred to St. Andrews University as a senior, was an All-Conference Pitcher, collected the Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) Pitcher of the Week award, and finished the season as the AAC's strikeout leader.
