ELON, N.C. - Elon University interim head softball coach Kathy Bocock has completed her staff with the addition of Mike Steuerwald as an assistant coach. Steuerwald comes to Elon after serving as the head coach at Cuesta College in San Luis Obispo, Calif., for two years. The Los Angeles native will assist Bocock with the defense and hitting and associate head coach Jess Kohut in recruiting.
"I am thankful to Coach Bocock for giving me the opportunity to join her staff," said Steuerwald. "I look forward to learning from her and working with her and Coach Kohut. I am also very excited to contribute to building a championship softball tradition here at Elon University in the years to come."
"Mike has already brought a lot of new drills and ideas to the program in just a short amount of time," said Bocock. "He has a great work ethic and that's already rubbing off on the players. His experience in coaching some of the best softball players in the world has given him a lot of knowledge for the game. He really has the ability to get our players to the next level."
Steuerwald became Cuesta's fourth softball coach just prior to the 2010 season, his first head coaching position. In his first season with the Cougars, Steuerwald led the team to a 16-21-1 overall record, just falling short of a birth in the post-season. Steuerwald's team went 13-27 in 2011, finishing with a .278 batting average and a .407 slugging percentage, while his pitchers compiled an ERA of 2.91.
Over the summers of 2010 and 2011, Steuerwald served as an assistant coach for the National Professional Fastpitch's Chicago Bandits. The Bandits won the NPF Championship in 2011 and finished as the runner-up in 2010. Steuerwald's primary responsibilities with the Bandits included coaching the infield, catchers and hitters.
During the summer of 2009, Steuerwald served as an assistant coach with the Rockford Thunder and helped lead them to the NPF title. While with the Thunder, Steuerwald worked with several of the sports' top players, including Olympian Cat Osterman.
Steuerwald worked as an assistant baseball coach for Rockford College overseeing the bullpen for the 2007-09 seasons. While at Rockford, the Regents won the Northern Athletics Conference title his first two years and finished second in 2009.
Prior to coaching in college, Steuerwald was the assistant softball coach at Waterloo and Watertown High Schools in Wisconsin during 2005 and 2006, respectively.
Steuerwald received his bachelor's in physical education from Maranatha Baptist Bible College in Watertown, Wisc., in 2005. He was a four-year starter and two-year captain for the Crusaders' baseball team. In 2008, while at Rockford, Steuerwald also earned his master's in education.