FORMER ISU COACH MARGIE WRIGHT IS AMONG NATION’S LEADERS IN WINS
Played for and Coached at ISU; First to Reach 1,000-Win Mark
By Tom Emery
Women’s softball has gained an increasing foothold on the American sports landscape, particularly on the college level. One of the winningest collegiate coaches of all time began her career at Illinois State.
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Margie Wright, who both played for and coached at ISU, was the nation’s all-time wins leader until 2016, when she was passed by former Michigan coach Carol Hutchins. Prior to that, Wright was the first softball coach to reach the 1,000-win mark.
A native of Warrensburg, Ill., Wright had been a star pitcher for Illinois State in the days before NCAA postseason play. Illinois State advanced to the semifinals of the 1972 AIAW Women’s College World Series and was the runner-up in 1973.
A three-sport athlete at ISU, Wright earned four letters each in basketball and softball, as well as three in field hockey.
Wright later pitched professionally for three seasons in St. Louis, and competed for thirty years in the Major Fastpitch Women’s Division of the American Softball Association.
Her coaching career began in 1975 with three seasons as the head softball coach at Metamora Township High School, near Peoria. Wright was an assistant softball coach at Eastern Illinois in 1978 and 1979.
In 1980, Wright returned to Illinois State as head softball coach. It was just the third season of varsity play at ISU, but Wright quickly established the Redbirds as a regional power.
In Wright’s first year, Illinois State finished 28-9-1 with an overpowering pitching staff that finished with a miniscule 0.67 ERA on the year. The Redbirds captured the first of three consecutive state AIAW titles that season.
Wright followed up in 1981 by leading Illinois State to a 40-10 mark, including a 14-game win streak at midseason. Her 1984 Redbird squad captured the program’s first-ever Gateway Conference title and set the school’s all-time lowest ERA for a season, a 0.66 mark that edged out the 1980 record.
Some of the Illinois State pitching stars of the Wright era included Maxine McGloughlin, Linda Wendt, Lynn Thompson, Trish Loftus, Ronnie Kraemer, and Kay Robbins, all of whom rank high on the school’s individual record lists.
Illinois State repeated as conference champions in 1985 with a team ERA of 0.74, the fourth-lowest in school history. It was Wright’s final season as head coach in Normal. In her six years, Illinois State fashioned a 163-92-2 record.
In 1986, Wright was named head softball coach at Fresno State, where she remained for twenty-seven seasons. During that time, she directed the Bulldogs to twenty-five NCAA postseason appearances, with seventeen conference titles.
Under Wright’s guidance, Fresno State advanced to the Women’s College World Series ten times, and captured the national title in 1998. She never won fewer than 35 games in a season at Fresno State, and broke the 50-win mark fourteen times. Her 1990 team notched 62 wins, while her 1999 squad won 65 games.
Wright stepped down after the 2012 season with a career record of 1,457-542-3. She was the all-time leader in softball coaching victories until April 2, 2016, when she was passed by Hutchins. Wright is now fourth on the all-time list.
In addition, Wright was an assistant coach on the U.S. team that won the gold medal at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. Two years later, she was the head coach of the U.S. national team that captured the 1998 world championship, just weeks after leading Fresno State to the NCAA title.
In 1979, Wright was inducted into the Illinois State Athletics Percy Family Hall of Fame, one of twelve Halls of Fame of which she is a member.
Tom Emery may be reached at 217-710-8392 or ilcivilwar@yahoo.com.
**Editor’s Note: If you find the story here of value, consider clicking one of the Google ads embedded in the story. It costs you nothing but Google will give the website owner a few cents. This is a way to help support local news at no cost to the reader.
