In just six years, Alan Bayse has transformed the Roanoke College softball team from a start-up program to a squad recognized as one of the best in the country. The only coach the Maroons have ever known, Bayse began his association with the squad in 1995 when Roanoke introduced the sport on a club level. After two seasons of club play, the team elevated to varsity competition and the school chose Bayse to guide the group.

In his six-year career as the RC head coach, Bayse has accumulated an overall record of 191-66, including a mark of 123-21 over the past three seasons. He has also captured the Old Dominion Athletic Conference Coach of the Year honors five years running, has led the team to four ODAC championships and four berths in the NCAA tournament.

Bayse has been coaching softball since 1976. His first head coaching duties came for the Community Hospital School of Nursing squad. He took over a team that had never won a game and in just one season turned the club into a third-place squad. In 1979, Bayse got his first taste of championship calibre softball, leading his Class A Women’s team to the state championship.

During the 1991-92 academic year, Bayse was asked to coach the Virginia Tech club team, which was beginning play that year. Like he would go on to do with the Maroons, Bayse transformed the Hokies into a winning club team in a matter of just two seasons. The next season Virginia Tech announced its softball team would be going varsity. Bayse then moved on to Roanoke College where he has been since.

A 1979 graduate of Radford, Bayse graduated from the school with a degree in Business and with honors. Prior to graduating from Radford, Bayse spent three years in the United States Army (1970-72). Prior to his tour of duty with the US military, Bayse was a regular player on the men’s fast-pitch scene, but after that disappeared, he turn his attention to coaching. Other than his job as the softball coach at Roanoke, Bayse runs his own insurance and benefits company.