The CMU softball team’s 11-1 win over Faulkner University on March 8 will go down in the Central Methodist history books for a couple of reasons. It turned out to be the final game of the season after spring sports were suspended by CMU on Friday, March 13, and it was the 800th win of head coach Pat Reardon’s career.

“I’m not a big milestone person, but it’s obviously nice to hear from some of my old players,” Reardon said on Wednesday, March 11, after the team returned from Gulf Shores, Alabama.

“I don’t play the games, I just put people out there. It’s the kids in the program.

“All of the coaches that I’ve had, whether its graduate assistants, assistant coaches, they do a lot of the work and I give a lot of the credit to them. At the end of the day, my name is on the records, wins and losses, but they deserve a lot of credit.

“We’ve had good administration here with President Drake and the people around us that have given me the opportunity to continue to do it.”

Reardon has been coaching at Central Methodist since he graduated from CMU in 1990. He was the head women’s soccer coach for 12 seasons and is in his 28th season coaching the softball team. He entered the season as the eighth-winningest active coach in the NAIA.

There are three generations of Reardons on the CMU softball coaching staff this season, with Reardon’s daughter Addy joining the staff as a graduate assistant. His father, Gene, has been with the Eagles for 14 seasons as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator.

“My dad joined me around 2006 and he’s made a huge difference on the recruiting front,” Reardon said. “I give him a lot of credit.”

Jonathan Lynch is in his second season as an Eagles’ assistant. Alyssa Lilly graduated from CMU in 2016 and joined Addy as a grad assistant this year.

“They’re both doing great,” Reardon said. “It’s important to have people that know me and can help in the program, because our program is so big. The people that I have in here are important because I trust them doing different things.

“Working with family can be difficult at times, but it has been good.”

The Eagles took five out of six games at the Gulf Shores Invitational and won nine out of their final ten overall after an 0-4 start.

“In our first six games we saw three teams and two of them were top-three in the country at the time,” Reardon said.

“Once we got that win against Oklahoma City, and it’s the first time we’ve done that, it’s kind of sparked us a little bit and that’s helped us as we went through.”

The Eagles lost to Avila three times in a row to start the season. After the 9-8 win over No. 3 Oklahoma City, the Eagles beat Avila 13-4 as part of an eight-game winning streak.

Central Methodist outscored its opponents 42-23 over the next six games in Alabama.

“We still didn’t play perfect, but we put some things together and it made a big difference down there,” Reardon said. “Our leadership has stepped up. Jordan Jenkins has done a good job, she’s one of my captains and Mae Mitchell. They’re both seniors. They’ve kind of taken the reigns and Kelli Gorman, a returning All-American, has put up the numbers, too. Our pitchers are finally starting to pitch a little bit now.”

Keighlan Cronin was named Heart Pitcher of the Week after allowing five earned runs on 13 hits over 18 innings in the Gulf Shores Invitational. She struck out 20 batters and won all three games. It was the second player of the week honor for an Eagle after Gorman was named Player of the Week two weeks earlier for her offensive performance.