Megan Garst returns to the Patriots’ staff for her second season as the assistant pitching coach. Last season the Lady Patriots pitching staff held a 1.98 ERA and a total of 46 wins. Standout, Haley Guffey, posted a 1.59 ERA and was among the nation’s top leaders with 27 wins during her freshmen year.

The Columbiana, AL native began her coaching career in 2017, assisting local travel teams each summer until 2020. She had her first college experience in the coaching realm in the summer of 2021 with the Florida Gulf Coast League developing college players from universities across the nation. During the 21-22’ school year, Garst became the Graduate Assistant Softball Manager at the University of Alabama where she received her Master of Arts in Kinesiology – Sport Administration.

Before her coaching career, Garst was an accomplished pitcher at the collegiate level. She holds the lowest single-season ERA at 0.94 and received first-team All-Region XXII selection and also earned regional all-tournament honors while at Shelton State Community College in 2017. Garst continued the same success after transferring to the University of North Alabama the following year, where she became a decorated softball athlete while receiving her Bachelor's degree in Exercise Science. During her sophomore year, she became the first UNA pitcher to receive All-America honors after earning second-team honors from the NFCA and third-team honors from D2CCA. She was also named the GSC Pitcher of the Year. In her junior year, she set a school record with a 0.83 ERA during UNA’s first season at the NCAA Division I level. She posted a 16-6 record on the year and was named first-team all-conference, as well as the ASUN Pitcher of the Year. During her fifth year, she set a new UNA record of 545 strikeouts.