Emily Stanley served as the team's interim head coach during the 2020 season after coaching as an assistant at Berry since September of 2014. She was appointed to head coach in April of 2020.Â
In 2022, Stanley led the Vikings to SAA Regular Season and Tournament championships, clinching the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Championship. Playing as the No. 4 seed, Stanley’s Vikings won the Greencastle Regional and earned the right to host the Mount Berry Super Regional. The team defeated No. 12 Bethel to advance to the final site for the first time in program history. More history was made as the team became first Berry side to win a game at an NCAA final site, eventually finishing in a tie for third. Hannah Gore would be named the Most Outstanding Player of the Greencastle Regional and the Most Outstanding Pitcher of the Mount Berry Super Regional, with teammate Blair Hall earning Most Outstanding Player honors.
The Vikings finished 2022 ranked third nationally in total hits (459), and sixth in total sacrifice flies (19). Berry’s hitters ranked No. 22 in batting average with a .345 mark. Morgan Frye set the school’s single-season record for home runs with 13, while Anna Jackson earned National Fastpitch Coaches Association/Diamond Sports D-III Catcher of the Year honors. As a staff, Berry pitchers were ranked 25th in the country in ERA at 2.01, the best mark of any SAA team. Pitcher Gore’s ERA of 1.01 led the SAA and was 10th nationally, with her WHIP of 0.73 placing her seventh nationally.
In 2021, Berry went 25-10 with an 11-4 mark in SAA play. The Vikings lost just one game at home during the season, finishing with a 13-1 mark at Kay Williams Field.
Although the 2020 season was cut short, the team achieved great success on the field. The Vikings finished the year ranked No. 14 in the final National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Top-25, holding a 12-2 record. The team closed the year on a six-game winning streak and outscored its opponents 30-2 in the final four games of the season. At the conference level, Berry led the league with a .375 team batting average, a .560 slugging percentage, 13 home runs and a 2.41 team ERA.
Stanley's career record sits at 73-25, including a 34-3 mark in home games.
As an assistant coach, Stanley helped build the Berry softball program into a conference and national powerhouse. The Vikings claimed the Southern Athletic Association (SAA) Regular Season and Tournament Titles in four of the five seasons during Stanley's assistant coaching tenure and advanced to the NCAA Regional Championship in each of those four years. In 2018, the Vikings clinched the NCAA Division III Atlanta Regional title to advance to NCAA Super Regionals for the first time in program history. She coached two pitchers to All-America honors, helped her players earn three SAA Player of the Year honors and three SAA Pitcher of the Year honors.
In addition, her pitchers consistently led the SAA in nearly every pitching category. In 2017, the Vikings ranked No. 5 in the nation in team ERA with at 1.29, No. 6 in the nation with 18 shutouts, and had two pitchers in the top five nationally in several categories. That year, the team set a program record with a 40-4 overall record and achieved the program's first No. 1 ranking in the NFCA Top-25.
Stanley joined Berry after spending three years at NCAA Division II Mars Hill University in North Carolina. Prior to Mars Hill, Stanley served in the same capacity for Louisburg College of the NJCAA. Additionally, she coached at NCAA Division III Ithaca College in Ithaca, N.Y. where she completed her master's degree in exercise and sport sciences with a concentration in sport psychology. Stanley worked with the Ithaca College softball team as a sports psychology consultant and later as an assistant coach.
Stanley completed her Bachelor's degree in psychology from Purchase College in Purchase, N.Y. She was a three-year varsity softball captain and received several honors including All-Conference at second base, third base, and utility. Additionally, Stanley received Purchase College honors including Most Valuable Player for three years, the Rookie of the Year Award, and the Leadership Award.
