Amherst College Athletics

Mary Pilkington joins the Virginia Wesleyan University Softball coaching staff in January 2020. Pilkington works primarily with the Marlins pitching staff. 

Pilkington was a member of the VWU coaching staff for the program's third National Championship in 2021, as well as a member of the 2021 National Coaching Staff of the Year. 

Under her leadership, Pilkington helped the Marlins to their sixth straight ODAC Championship title and the program's 14th overall. Pilkington worked heavily with the pitchers which produced a pair of ODAC All-Conference pitchers in Emily Seale and Lauren Bible. 

Pilkington assisted the Marlins in their third NCAA National Championship run in 2021 and helped coach the NFCA National Pitcher of the Year in Hanna Hull and NFCA third-team All-American Emily Seale. Hull tallied a record of 23-3 en route to breaking the NCAA record for career pitching wins at 132 wins (previous record 124) and Seale, who boasted a record of 22-3, including a huge shutout win over No. 1 DePauw in the 2021 NCAA National Championship Tournament. 

Mary, a 2016 alumna of VWU, played softball for Coach Brandon Elliott while majoring in Criminal Justice. After VWU, Pilkington spent two years as a paralegal for J.S. Burton, PLC in Virginia Beach while also serving as a private pitching coach to athletes in the area. In 2017, Pilkington began her own business as a wedding planner for Timeless Styled Events. 

While playing for the Marlins, Shipp played in 86 games, one shy of all 87 during her four seasons, made 43 career starts while throwing 303.2 innings pitched. She gave up 96 runs, 59 earned while striking out 195 batters in her career. Shipp also threw seven shutouts. In 1255 batters faced she walked only 57 batters, threw 16 wild pitches and had 12 hit by pitch throws. Mary collected a 36 and 11 record in the circle as well as coming in to save nine games.