Brandeis has a new softball coach, just the second in its history. Her name is Jessica Johnson and she brings a history of winning with her.

Born in the Berkshires, Coach Johnson played four years of college ball at Wheaton College, spending time in center field and at shortstop. She is one of the best offensive players in the programs history. After a year each at Framingham State College and Mount Ida College as an assistant, Johnson became the head coach at Mount Ida, where she led the team to their two best seasons in the colleges history.

On her first impressions of the Brandeis squad, Johnson thinks that theres a lot of potential and there is no reason that it cant be maximized. Her plan is to have a major emphasis on teamwork and solid defensive play. Also, she plans on having power hitting in addition to small ball. Everybodys going to play a role.

Coach Johnson has several major goals for the season, all of which are well in reach for the talented Judges. First, she wants a strong showing in the conference. In the spring, Brandeis will go to Florida for the UAA tournament, and a goal is to play at least .500 ball there. Another goal is taking care of business back here in New England. With this strength of schedule we should be able to manufacture quite a lot of wins. The third and final goal is to establish leadership through the depth of the upper classmen.

While Coach Johnson has only been on the job for less than two weeks and has yet to hire an assistant, the team is getting ready for the season in the spring. The team is efficiently practicing several times a week and should be ready to meet and surpass Coach Johnsons goals for the season.