Scott Triplett, a Hudson native whose softball coaching experience includes working with the team at nearby South Caldwell High, was named Thursday as the head coach of Caldwell Community College and Technical Institute’s softball program that will begin play in the fall of this year./CCC&TI PHOTO
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HUDSON – Scott Triplett, an assistant coach at nearby South Caldwell High, will guide the first women’s softball team at Caldwell Community College and Technical Institute (CCC&TI).
The school’s athletic department announced Triplett’s hiring on Thursday. He is a South Caldwell and Appalachian State graduate who has worked with the Spartans’ softball team since 2013.
CCC&TI is adding softball for the fall of 2019 and previously announced its board of trustees also approved adding a baseball program that will be guided by Frank Pait, formerly head coach at Lenoir-Rhyne University and Catawba Valley Community College (CVCC).
Triplett’s coaching experience also includes providing private hitting and pitching lessons for players throughout the region over the last several years. He also helped launch an indoor training facility for both softball and baseball players in the community.
CCC&TI is still working to determine which division of the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) its teams will play in.
“I am so thankful and excited to be given this opportunity with CCC&TI,” Triplett said in a press release from CCC&TI. “To start up a program in my hometown and at such a great institution is a dream come true.
“This area has so much softball talent that will now have a real chance to play at the college level, this is truly a sleeping giant that is getting ready to awake.”
CCC&TI Athletic Director Matt Anderson said Triplett’s experience and his connections in the community make him the right coach to launch the program.
“We are so excited to name Scott Triplett as our head softball coach,” Anderson said. “Scott brings a wealth of softball knowledge and experience to our institution.
“He has played a major part in building one of the top high school programs in the state at South Caldwell, and we look forward to him bringing that same culture to our program.,
“He has worked with some of the top softball prospects in our area and knows what it takes to play at the college level.
“Ultimately our vision is to build a program that competes on a national level. That will take some time and it will be a process but we have the right person in place to eventually get us to that point.”
Triplett plans to hit the ground running with recruiting and team-building.
“I look forward to getting out and recruiting immediately,” he said. “We will be recruiting not only the athlete, but also the student. Good character will be a requirement for our student athletes as they will be visible representatives of the college and the community.
“I wish we could be on the field tomorrow, but we will begin the building process today and lay a foundation for success.”
— Reported by CCC&TI Athletic Department