West Texas A&M Lady Buff softball will have a new face out in the bullpen this season with the addition of Kerry Bartholomew as a volunteer assistant coach.

Batholomew joins the staff to assist with academics and specialize in working with the Lady Buff pitching staff.

“Coach Bart knows how to win,” head coach Kevin Blaskowski said. “He works hard, his players work hard and they respect him. He’s making our pitching staff better every day, and that’s what I want him to do.”

Coach Bartholomew comes to Canyon after serving as the pitching coach for Lone Star Conference rival Texas A&M- Commerce last season. While at Commerce, Bartholomew coached the second best statistical pitching staff in the Lone Star Conference. Prior to his time with the Lions, Bartholomew’s resume includes three seasons as the pitching coach at Henderson State.

“I hope that I can bring them confidence and a little bit of knowledge in pitching so that they can be successful on the mound and so that we can definitely win a championship again,” Bartholomew said. “That would be awesome to me.”

Coach Blaskowski made a big impression on Bartholomew last season during the WT and Commerce matchup.

“I wanted to come here, and I wanted to learn from [Blaskowski] and see what he does and see why he is always on the winning side,” Bartholomew said.

Coach Bartholomew’s presence is already paying off for the Lady Buffs. Through 19 games this season, they are only allowing an earned run average of 2.23 runs per ballgame.

“Coach Bart is an amazing person on and off the field,” sophomore pitcher Chelsea Skipper said. “As a pitcher, he is developing me to tap into my full potential as well as teaching me to redirect my emotions and thought process to strengthen my overall game. His positive presence and kindheartedness has been incredibly useful in all aspects of the game for us. I have the utmost respect for him as a coach and I couldn’t be more thankful that he joined the Lady Buff staff.”