Piedmont Head Softball Coach Terry Martin, see above moments after winning last year’s USA South Championship Tournament, has announced the addition of a new face to his coaching staff with the hire of Bob Lowe (not pictured) who joins the Lady Lions starting with the 2015 season.
Demorest, GA – Piedmont Head Softball Coach Terry Martin has announced the hiring of Bob Lowe as the program’s new Assistant Varsity Softball Coach and Head JV Coach. Lowe brings a wealth of collegiate coaching experience to the new post and a familiarity with NCAA Division III as all three of the long-time coach’s daughters played collegiate softball at the Division III level.
Lowe replaces former Piedmont assistant Fred Gillum who departed earlier this fall to take an Assistant Coach position with Belmont University, a NCAA Division I program located in Nashville, Tennessee.
Lowe joins a Piedmont program built for success that has seen a 77-18 overall record over the last two seasons and enjoyed back-to-back NCAA National Tournament appearances, a 2014 USA South Championship Tournament title, and a pair of conference regular season crowns as well.
Prior to migrating south to join the Lady Lions, Lowe spent the last four seasons as the Head Softball Coach at Sauk Valley Community College in Dixon, Illinois. During his time as the leader of the Skyhawks, Lowe compiled an impressive overall record of 148-66 while also leading his teams to a pair of Region IV Tournament Championships, one in his debut season of 2011 and another in 2013.
During his tenure at Sauk, Lowe mentored 14 All-Conference players, nine All-Region selections, and seven All-Academic honorees. Additionally, the coach also developed Sauk’s first-ever All-American in Kaiti Mathey who finished the regular season tied for 21st in the country in batting average swinging an even .500. Mathey also ranked 19th in RBIs with 61 on the year.
A two-time Region IV Coach of the Year, Lowe led his 2011 team to an Arrowhead Conference Championship, the program’s first-ever such title and the first of back-to-back crowns for Sauk as the Skyhawks would repeat as champions in 2012.
His 2012 Skyhawks squad set a new school record with 47 wins on the season besting the previous record of 34 victories set by his own 2011 team. For his efforts in 2012, Lowe was voted by his coaching peers to be the Region IV All-Star Game Coach.
During his team’s regional championship run of 2013, the Skyhawks posted their best-ever finish at the DII National Tournament placing 7th in the country. 2013 was also the first season that the Skyhawks saw one of their own named an All-American while Lowe would earn his second Region IV Coach of the Year honor and three players would earn All-Conference 1st team honors and take spots on the Regional All-Tournament Team.
Having also served as a speaker and instructor at several fast pitch seminars and camps, Lowe earned a reputation for developing some of the region’s best pitching in Illinois conducting individual lessons with hundreds of developing pitchers.
Since 2006, Lowe served as an Administrator for youth softball organizations and also spent 2006 to 2010 working with Adrenaline ASA Softball Fastpitch Club 12U-23+ and also was the Head Coach for the 18U Adrenaline Softball Team. During his time with the youth organization, Lowe led his teams to two national qualifying appearances and took several local tournament championships as well.
Lowe’s move to Piedmont makes NCAA Division III softball a family affair as all three of the coach’s daughters played collegiate softball at the Division III level with the oldest Carin spending her entire career at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville. Colleen and youngest Rebecca spent at time at Luther College and Kirkwood College respectively before also finishing their collegiate career at UW-Platteville.
A father of four, Coach Lowe and his wife Camille also have a son, Daniel who recently started his collegiate basketball career as a freshman at St. Xavier University, a NAIA member institution located in Chicago, Illinois.
Lowe earned his undergraduate degree from Southern Illinois University in Secondary Agriculture Education taking Dean’s List honors all four years graduating with high honors. Having earned his Jurist Doctorate Degree from Northern Illinois University College of Law in 2002, Lowe would earn a Masters in Administrative Education from American College of Education in 2012.
