Sunny Jones will begin her third year as the head coach of the Detroit Titan softball team in the upcoming 2011-12 season.
Jones served as the assistant softball coach at Toledo for three seasons prior to joining Detroit taking on her new position July 1, 2009.
"Coach Jones has a wealth of experience as a coach, and she was standout college player as well. Her leadership as a coach and recruiter, at many different levels, has been tremendous. As a player, her competitiveness and talent garnered her numerous national awards and nominations. She knows what it takes to win, and I am confident that she'll take this program to the next level," said athletic director Keri Gaither.
Prior to her stint on the Toledo staff, where she served as the Rockets' recruiting and scouting coordinator, Jones served as head softball coach at Hillsdale College. During the two seasons with the Chargers, Jones racked up 47 victories and guided the team to back-to-back appearances in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference tournament. Her initial collegiate experience came as an interim head coach/assistant coach at Concordia (MI) University from 2002-04, where she was responsible for all aspects of the team management, including recruiting and fundraising while also coaching her players.
“I’m looking forward to moving this program in a competitive direction. I feel that this year’s focus needs to be improvement every game and team consistency. We have players that thrive on winning and that’s the kind of attitude that is necessary to win,” stated Jones.
A 2000 Ashland University graduate who majored in Physical Education and Health Education, Jones was named the NCAA Division II Player of the Year as a senior in 1999 and earned first-team All-America honors as a centerfielder in each of her four seasons with the Eagles (1996-1999). She was a finalist for the Honda Woman of the Year Award in 1999 and was also invited to compete in the U.S. Olympic Team tryouts the same year. In addition, she was named the GLIAC Player of the Year in 1996 and 1997.
Following her collegiate career, Jones played professionally for the Akron Racers of the WPSL in 1999, while serving as the lead hitting instructor at the Doug Gillis Softball Academy before entering the college coaching ranks.
In October 2010, she received a distinguished honor from her alma mater as she was inducted into the Ashland Hall of Fame.
The former Sunny Litteral, Jones still holds eight season and seven career records at Ashland and finished her Eagle career with a .450 batting average and 44 home runs.
