Newberry College Athletics

The longest-serving head softball coach in school history, Ciria Triplett was hired to lead the Wolves in June 2012. The 2022 season was her tenth year as head coach. Triplett is also the winningest coach in program history as well.

In 2022, the Wolves had one of the best seasons in program history. Newberry finished the season with 33 wins, tied for second most in program history. The Wolves earned a sweep of a ranked team for the first time in program history as they swept #18 Carson-Newman on March 26th. Offensively, the Wolves set program records in multiple stats including runs scored, doubles, home runs and RBI. Four Newberry players were also named to the All-Conference team as Hannah Towery was named to the first team, Mackenzie Turner and Mallena Wright were named to the second team, and Sierra Brogdon was named to the third team. Towery and Wright were also named to the second team of the D2CCA All-Southeast Region Team. The Wolves also had two players named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District Team in Hannah Towery and Tedi Nunn.

In 2021, the Wolves pulled one of the biggest upsets in program history, taking down then-no. 1 North Georgia on March 31 at the Smith Road Complex. Newberry would end up finishing the season with a 20-15 record, missing the conference tournament for the first time since 2014. Newberry ended up having six players named to the postseason All-Conference teams, including first-team selection McKenzie Barneycastle and second-team selections Hannah Towery and Alexandrea Sullivan. Paige Meyer, Hailey Hill and Haley Simonds were all named honorable mentions. 

The 2020 season, which was cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic, was shaping up to be a historic season for Newberry. At the moment the season was canceled in early March, the Wolves were 20-4, and were on pace to set numerous program records, including batting average (.342). Junior McKenzie Barneycastle set the program record for batting average, finishing with a .486 average in 70 at-bats. 

In 2019, Triplett led to Wolves to unprecedented new heights breaking several program records as the team ended the season with their best finish in the SAC standings in 20 years (T-2nd). Triplett coached a program record seven All-SAC honorees, three selections to both the D2CCA and NFCA All-Region teams, a D2CCA All-American Honorable Mention and an NFCA All-American. The Wolves finished the season with a 29-16 record overall and an 11-9 record in conference play which culminated in the program's first national ranking at No. 25 on 3/6. Newberry narrowly missed out on making their first NCAA regional appearance after being ranked as high as No. 4 in the NCAA Southeast Regional Rankings.

During the 2018 campaign, the Wolves finished with a 30-18 overall record and 11-9 in conference play. Newberry secured the No.3 seed for the SAC Softball Championship Tournament for the fourth consecutive season. Haley Simonds, Natalie Willis, and Emily Marchbanks were All-SAC pre-season selections. Simonds and Willis were also placed on the NFCA National Player of the Year Watchlist, nabbed postseason All-SAC First Team honors at their respective positions, D2CCA selections, NFCA DII All-Region, and All-ECAC. Chelsey Cunningham and Myranda Dills were named Academic All-District.  

The 2017 season saw Newberry earn the most conference victories in program history after finishing 33-16 overall and 14-6 in the South Atlantic Conference. The Wolves made the SAC Championship for the third consecutive season, which included a walk-off victory in extra innings against Wingate. Newberrry finished third in the regular season standings and saw a program record-three players named first team all-SAC and five players honored overall. Natalie Willis and Haley Simonds were named first-team all region by the NFCA. 

The 2016 campaign saw the Wolves qualify for the South Atlantic Conference Tournament for the second consecutive season after a five year absence from the postseason. Newberry went 28-22 overall behind Maude McCourry's second team all-region performance as a utility player. McCourry and Christina Linton each earned all-South Atlantic Conference honors.

The 2015 season was one of the top seasons in the past few years, as the Wolves went 31-22 and qualified for the South Atlantic Conference Tournament for the first time since 2010 as the fifth seed. The Wolves won their first two games of the tournament to advance to the winner's bracket semifinals before their elimination.

Gabrielle Bedard earned first team all-SAC honors and Ashlen Ayres, Maude McCourry and AnnDee Priest earned honorable mention all-SAC honors. McCourry earned all-Southeast Region honors from the NFCA and the D2CCA, while Bedard was also named all-region by the D2CCA. Hailey Drawe and Cassie Harrell earned all-SAC Tournament honors.

In her tenure at Newberry, Triplett has continually improved, as the Wolves went 16-24 in her first season. In her second season, Triplett coached the Wolves to a 21-27 overall mark.

In Triplett's first game as head coach, Kaylyn Camacho opened the new Smith Road Complex Stadium with a no-hitter win over Lees-McRae. 

Triplett came to Newberry after five years as an assistant coach at USC Upstate. She primarily coached the pitching staff, which turned in record-breaking performances in her time in Spartanburg. Pitcher Morgan Childers was named the Atlantic Sun Conference Pitcher of the Year in 2008 and was Upstate's first-ever four-time all-Atlantic Sun selection.

She is the wife of Newberry College head baseball coach Russell Triplett. The couple is one of the only husband and wife baseball and softball coaching combinations in college athletics.

Prior to Upstate, Triplett was an assistant coach at Lander University in 2005-06. Primarily the pitching coach at Lander, she also assisted with the outfielders and hitters and helped implement the strength and conditioning program for the Bearcats.

Before her time at Lander, Triplett was the assistant coach at Yakima Valley Community College in Yakima, Wash., from 2004-05. She was the pitching coach and worked with the outfielders and hitters. In the spring of 2004, she served as the pitching coach at Selah High School in Selah, Wash. In addition to her coaching duties, she has been an instructor at summer youth softball camps since 2000.

She was a four-year letterwinner on the softball team at Central Washington University in Ellensburg, Wash. After beginning her career as a starting pitcher, a series of injuries relegated her to relief appearances. She holds the school's all-times saves and games finished records, is eighth in appearances, and 14th in wins. She owns the school's single-season record for saves with five in 2001 and ranks fourth on the single-season list with 25 appearances in 2001.

Ciria and Russell were married in July 2010 and live in Newberry with their sons - Cal, Cruz, and Cane.

TRIPLETT YEAR-BY-YEAR