Sept. 17, 2001
CLEVELAND - Director of Athletics John Konstantinos has named former CSU hurler Amy Kyler assistant softball coach. Kyler, arguably the Viking's most dominant pitcher in history, returns to Cleveland after serving as an assistant at Bowling Green for three years.
"We are extremely pleased and proud to welcome Amy Kyler back into the CSU athletic family," noted Konstantinos. "Anytime you add a person of Amy's caliber and talent to your staff it's a great asset. The fact that she is one of our own makes it all the greater an asset."
Kyler, who will be the first assistant, joins sixth-year Head Coach Julie Jones and second assistant Denise Davis on the Viking bench. Kyler graduated cum laude from CSU in 1997 with a Bachelor of Arts in both Social Work and Psychology. Along the way she broke nearly every major pitching record in CSU history.
Kyler currently owns career records with a 1.35 ERA, 782.1 innings pitched, 67 wins, a .620 wining percentage, 121 appearances and 909 strikeouts. She also set five single-season records in 1997 with 33 appearances, 24 wins, a 0.56 ERA, 210.2 innings pitched and 325 strikeouts.
During her senior season Kyler led the Vikings to the Midwestern Collegiate Conference (MCC) Championship and the NCAA Tournament. During the MCC semi-final game against UIC, she also tied an NCAA record with 26 strikeouts on May 3 en route to winning the Tournament MVP. Moreover, she earned the MCC's Pitcher-of-the-Year award.
Along with her many on the field accomplishments, Kyler excelled in the classroom as well. She was a Dean's List student 10 quarters, a 1997 President's List of Distinguished Undergraduate Students, the 1997 winner of the CSU Faculty Athletics Representative Award and a CSU Scholar Athlete from 1995-1997. In addition, Kyler volunteered for the NCAA Youth Education through Sports (YES) Clinics. She returned to CSU from 1997-1998 as a graduate assistant and earned a Master of Arts in Sports Management in 2001.
Along with her duties as an assistant coach at Bowling Green, Kyler toured with the Women's Professional Softball League's (WPSL) 2001 Tour of Fastpitch Champions this summer. Playing for the WPSL All-Star Team, Kyler threw a perfect game on July 14 against the Chicago White Sox All-Stars. She also threw a no-hitter on June 17. The team competed in a 14-city tour from June to August.
Previously Kyler had been playing for the Akron Racers in the WPSL after being traded by the Carolina Diamonds. She helped the Racers capture the WPSL Championship Semifinal in August of 1999. She finished the season 7-7 with a 1.97 ERA. In her first two seasons with the Diamonds, Kyler went 16-16 with an ERA of 2.42 in 219.1 innings pitched. She won the first of her three All-Star nominations in her second season.
