Hall of Fame coach, Mike Candrea will be the keynote speaker at Virginia Wesleyan University Softball's 3rd Annual
First Pitch Dinner on Saturday, February 3, 2024. Candrea, who retired in 2021, he is often referred to as the greatest softball coach in NCAA history as he led his Arizona teams to 1,674 wins and an astounding 8 NCAA DI National Championships.
Coach Candrea also served as the head coach of Team USA, bringing home the gold medal in Athens in 2004 and a silver medal in Beijing in 2008. "We are honored to have Coach Candrea headline our First Pitch Dinner and Coaches Clinic this year," said Head Softball Coach
Brandon Elliott. "He is an icon, a legend, and pretty much the Godfather of Softball. He has the uncanny ability to teach the game at a high level while mentoring some of the game's greatest players and at the same time inspiring coaches of all ages."
The
First Pitch Dinner will kick off with the MVP Social at 6 pm, with dinner immediately following. Tickets for the dinner start at $75, and seven-top table sponsorships are $750. Tickets and tables for the MVP Social are $125 and $1,000 respectively. In addition, there are several sponsorship opportunities available for organizations and businesses that may be interested. Tickets and Sponsorships can be purchased at
WWW.VWU.EDU/FIRSTPITCH.
Before the
First Pitch Dinner, Coach Candrea will lead the First Pitch Coaches Clinic alongside the Virginia Wesleyan softball staff. The classroom session of the coaches clinic will run from 9 am – 11:30 am, with the field session going from 12:30 pm –3 pm. The coaches clinic is open to all coaches, and registration can be found at
WWW.VWU.EDU/FIRSTPITCH.
Virginia Wesleyan's softball program hosted its first-ever
First Pitch Dinner in 2019 with Hall of Fame Head Coach Patrick Murphy from the University of Alabama, and returned last year with the University of Michigan Head Coach the NCAA's all-time wins leader, Carol Hutchins serving as the keynote speaker. Both years saw a sell out for the
First Pitch Dinner.
