UVA softball head coach Joanna Hardin completed her coaching staff with the hiring of Shae Braxton on Tuesday. Braxton will work primarily on the defensive side of the ball with the Cavaliers.
Braxton has spent the past two years as an assistant coach at Bethune-Cookman. During her two seasons with the Wildcats, Bethune-Cookman produced a pair of conference championships and NCAA Tournament appearances. The NCAA appearances were the first for the Wildcats since 2012.
With Braxton on staff, the Wildcats finished second nationally in stolen bases during the 2018 season. In 2019, Braxton helped Bethune-Cookman to its first victory over a nationally-ranked team since 2005.
“Shae’s passion, enthusiasm, maturity and leadership are exactly what we need for our program to move forward,” Hardin said. “She knows what it takes to win and has ties to Virginia, which will immediately impact our recruiting. We could not have found a better fit to round out our staff than Shae.”
A native of the Commonwealth, Braxton brings a wealth of Virginia connections to the staff. She played her high school softball at C.D. Hylton in Woodbridge and later returned as an assistant on staff. In addition, Braxton has coached for a pair of travel organizations in Virginia. She also spent time as a softball instructor and trainer in Manassas.
As a student-athlete at Marshall, Braxton helped the Thundering Herd to a pair of NCAA tournament appearances and a national ranking in 2017. She was a member of two C-USA championship teams and a 2013 C-USA All-Freshman team member. Braxton holds seven top-10 marks in Marshall’s career record book, including the second-most RBI (171) in program history.
Braxton, who redshirted while with the Thundering Herd, earned a bachelor’s degree in health sciences from Marshall in 2016. She was a 2015 NFCA Mid-East All-Region selection and NFCA All-America Scholar Athlete.
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Chris Graham
