Shaddix joins Lady Raider softball bench

Editor's note: This is the second of two stories on new assistant softball coaches at Three Rivers College. The Daily American Republic ran a story on assistant coach Jason Gwin last week.

When Summer (Shockley) Anagnostopoulos left Three Rivers College to take the head softball coaching job at Missouri S & T last year, Three Rivers head coach Jeff Null was not sure he could find a candidate to replace her.

Instead, he found two.

Not only is former assistant coach Jason Gwin rejoining the coaching staff at Three Rivers, but former Division I softball player Megan (Fortner) Shaddix also has joined the Lady Raiders' staff for the upcoming season.

“I was actively looking for an assistant, and she didn't know that we were looking, and she just randomly sent an email, and it was like, 'Oh, that might fit,'” Null said. “And … here we are.”

Shaddix is excited to be on the Three Rivers' bench alongside Null and Gwin.

“I want to be able to invest in a program,” Shaddix said. “I've learned a lot from Coach Null already, and I've only been here for a (short time). It's exciting to build relationships with these girls and to just learn all the ins and outs — and to be able to give back.”

Null said Shaddix brings youth and enthusiasm to Three Rivers

“Me and Coach Gwin are getting a little longer in the tooth,” Null said, “so she is somebody that's a little younger, can understand the kids' lingo, knows all the social media stuff that they're into — and just be able to relate to the girls a little bit being a female. She can talk to them and have discussions that us guys can't, necessarily. So that brings another level to our staff that I think really helps us out.”

A former first baseman, Shaddix believes hitting is her forte when it comes to coaching.

“I love hitting,” Shaddix said. “I love learning about all the different approaches, philosophies and currently working on creating my own hitting philosophy.

A graduate of Northwest High School in Jefferson County, Shaddix played three years at Jacksonville State University in Alabama before transferring to Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia, where she finished her career last spring.

From there, Shaddix served as the junior varsity head coach and varsity assistant at Jackson back in the fall, helping the Lady Indians win a district title before they fell in the Class 5 state quarterfinals to eventual state champion Lafayette.

“They have a great program over there,” Shaddix said of Jackson. “Super talented kids that go through there.”

Shaddix comes from a family of softball coaches and softball players, which Null also sees as an asset

“We're lifelong ballplayers,” Null said of him and Shaddix. “I see a lot of the same things in her that I see in myself. She's new, so we've got a lot of learning to do. But she's been on the other end of it as a player — I haven't been at the Division I level, but she has for five years. So I'm trying to learn from her on a lot of things and pick her brain on ideas and stuff that they've done that might help us out here at our level.”