Joyce Compton (softball)

Compton attended Allentown High School where she was a three-sport athlete, playing field hockey, basketball and softball. Following high school, she attended Trenton State College. She then played professionally for the Raybestos Brakettes and Connecticut Falcons.^[2]

With her teams, she won three Amateur Softball Association and four International Women's Professional Softball Association titles throughout the 1970s.^[3][4] Compton won the 1974 Women's Softball World Championship with the American team.^[5]

Compton began her coaching career at Mattatuck Community College in 1976. She served as head coach for seven seasons and posted a 93–19 record. She then served as head coach at Missouri for four seasons and posted a 115–77 record.^[6] During her first season at Missouri in 1983, she helped the Tigers win the Big 8 championship and advance to the Women's College World Series for the first time in program history.^[7]

Compton then served as head coach at South Carolina from 1987 until 2010. In 24 years as head coach, she posted a 951–486–4 record, becoming the winningest in coach in program history, regardless of sport. In 1997, during South Carolina's first year in the Southeastern Conference (SEC), the Gamecocks finished with a record 63–5 setting a program record for wins, won the inaugural SEC regular season and SEC tournament championships and advanced to the Women's College World Series.^[8] The Gamecocks won the SEC East four times, and the SEC tournament twice. She was named the inaugural SEC Coach of the Year winner in 1997. She is one of nine coaches to win at least 950 games at a single NCAA Division I school. She led the Gamecocks to 13 NCAA regional appearances, one super regional appearance and two Women's College World Series appearances.^[6]

She was inducted into the National Fastpitch Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2002.^[9] At the time of her retirement, she ranked tenth among all NCAA softball coaches in career wins, regardless of division, and ninth in NCAA Division I, with a record of 1,066–563–4.^[10] The Gamecocks retired her jersey in 2022.^[11]

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