Mark Cooke Head Softball Coach

    Mark Cooke enters his eleventh year as head coach of the Winthrop University softball team.

    Cooke , a 1989 graduate of USC Spartanburg has a 237-282 record at Winthrop after leading the Lady Eagles to two of their four Big South Conference titles in 1990 and 1991. He has a 13-year overall coaching record of 321-331.

    Prior to coming to Winthrop in the dual role of head volleyball and softball coach , Cooke served for a year as an assistant coach at Northeast Louisiana University. He then served a brief stint as an assistant a Spartanburg Methodist before taking over the head coaching reins of the USCS softball team. In three seasons at USC Spartanburg, Cooke compiled an 84-49 record with all of his teams finishing no lower than third place in the NAIA District 6. On two occasions, Cooke’s teams enjoyed rankings in the top twenty. After seven years as Lady Eagle volleyball coach, he turned over those duties to concentrate on softball.

    Cooke has played fast-pitch softball extensively over the years. Since he began playing in 1981, he has been a member of teams that have captured eight state titles and four regional crowns.

    He is marred to the former April Haimbaugh of Niles, Michigan. They are the parents of two sons, Seth, age 7, and Noah, nine months..

    You can contact Coach Cooke via e-mail at cookem@winthrop.edu