Hokie Club
BLACKSBURG – Making the second hire of his staff, Virginia Tech head softball coach Pete D'Amour announced on Friday the hiring of Doug Gillis as an assistant coach.
"This will be my third program where I have been able to work with Doug," D'Amour said. "I've been around the game of softball my entire life, and have seen a lot of good pitching coaches, but I have never met a coach with the ability to teach pitching like Doug can.
"Doug has and continues to play at the highest level of men's fastpitch and had a lengthy career on the USA Men's National Team. He's always finding ways to evolve and get better. What he is teaching now isn't what he was teaching 10-15 years ago. What's most important to me is the fact that the pitchers that work with Doug are almost always better at the end of their careers than at the beginning.
"One overlooked aspect of him coming aboard is his ability to throw to our hitters. We saw major improvements with our hitters the last two years just by Doug spinning pitches to them a few times a week. His lifetime of experience on the softball field will not only help our pitchers but all of the players in our program."
Gillis will serve as the pitching coach for the Hokies after working at Kennesaw State with the same position for two years with D'Amour.
"I'm really fortunate to continue coaching with Pete D'Amour, Pete is one of the most underrated softball coaches in the country," Gillis said. "Personally, there are only four or five coaches I would be willing to work for at the college level. Also, I'm honored to join and be a part of the legendary Virginia Tech athletic program."
He was instrumental in the development of Owls' pitcher Alley Cutting, who earned Atlantic Sun Conference (ASUN) Pitcher of the Year this past spring. Cutting also was tabbed first-team all-conference and NFCA NCAA DI All-South Region last season and put together a perfect game and no-hitter apiece during her redshirt freshman year in 2017 on her way to winning ASUN Freshman of the Year. She sits in the top-10 all-time list in nine categories.
Gillis also developed Abigail Green inside the circle her final two years playing for Kennesaw State. Green earned second-team all-conference honors this past season and was an NFCA All-America Scholar-Athlete in 2017. She posted one of the best pitching seasons in Owls history in 2018, owning 8.95 strikeouts per seven innings mark, the third-best in program history for an individual season.
Under Gillis' watch, the Owls led the ASUN in total strikeouts (370) this past season, which was 61 more than the next best in the league. The pitching staff also surrendered the fewest walks in the conference.
Prior to his two-year stint with Kennesaw State, Gillis spent eight years on the staff at Missouri. He spent the 2015 and 2016 seasons as head pitching coach after serving the previous six campaigns as director of pitching for the Tigers.
In addition to his role at Missouri, Gillis founded the Gillis USA Softball Training Academy in 1986 where he mentored seven USA Team members, three USA Team Olympic Gold Medalists, 20 collegiate All-Americans and eight players who pitched in the Women's College World Series.
Before his time in Columbia, Gillis served as an associate head coach at Saginaw Valley State from 1986-1991, and in 1989 helped lead the Cardinals to the NAIA national championship.
Having a knack for developing elite pitchers in the college ranks, Gillis has developed four different conferences' Pitcher of the Year selections, including the likes of the ASUN, Big 12, Big Ten and SEC. He also has produced three PGF national championship pitchers, 62 high school state championship pitchers and 430 high school all-state pitchers throughout his career.
During Gillis' tenure as a coach, he's made three Women's College World Series appearances and eight Super Regional showings.
An accomplished fastpitch softball player himself, Gillis is a six-time USA Team member in three different decades. He has won a New Zealand provincial national champion, serving as an assistant coach for Auckland.
He is in the top-10 all-time list for International Softball Congress victories, which is the highest level of softball in the world, the top-five list for USA Softball men's major division national tournament victories and was named to the International Softball Congress All-World 2010 Team, being the only American pitcher selected.
A two-time USA Softball men's major division national champion, Gillis won a gold medal in 2002 on the USA National Team during the Pan-American Championships and a gold medal in 1998 at the U.S. Olympic Festival. He also won the MVP pitcher award at the 1995 International National Championship in the Dominican Republic.
Accustom to other parts of the world, he has pitched internationally in Canada, the Dominican Republic, Cayman Islands, Netherlands, New Zealand and the Czech Republic.
WHAT THEY ARE SAYING
"Doug does a tremendous job of separating mandatory fundamentals and individual styles of pitching mechanics. He is also great at deciding the individual needs for each pitcher that makes them unique. Thus, creating an environment that the pitcher can reach their utmost potential." – Mike Candrea, Head coach University of Arizona softball and head coach of the 2004 and 2008 Olympic team.
"Doug brings a unique perspective to the position of pitching coach, combining his own elite player experience in the circle, with the everyday training instruction and expertise it takes to make players better at the top college level." – Cheri Kempf, NPF National Pro Fastpitch commissioner, ESPN commentator.
"Doug Gillis has come up through the ranks as a young pitcher learning from the best influences in the world, to an international level pitcher and on to becoming a world-class teacher. His experience is so large and across the board at teaching pitchers of all levels, from beginners to athletes on the U.S. National Team." – Milt Stark, Former executive director of the International Softball Congress.