Western Connecticut State University

Heather Stone enters her 20th season in 2025-26 as head softball coach at her alma mater, Western Connecticut State University.  During Stone's tenure, WestConn has made five NCAA Championships appearances and were crowned as the 2007 ECAC New England Champions in her first season.  Stone has averaged 22.5 wins per season with a 405-292 overall record in 18 competitive seasons.  WestConn made NCAA appearances in 2008, 2011, 2013, 2014 and 2016.  It was crowned Little East Conference (LEC) champion and advanced to the NCAA tournament's 12 game in both 2013 and 2016.  In 2007, WestConn finished with a record of 28-13 (10-4 in the Little East Conference), finished in second place at the LEC Championship Tournament, and captured the ECAC Division III New England Championship, the second in program history.  Last fall, the Wolved went 24-20, achieving their highest win total since 2015, and advanced deep into the LEC Tourney.

Stone, a 1994 WestConn graduate and 2001 inductee into the WCSU Athletics Hall of Fame, had been the head softball coach at the United States Merchant Marine Academy (King's Point) from 2000 until August of 2006.  King's Point's all-time winningest coach, Stone compiled a record of 110-121-1 in six season at the helm. She guided the Mariners to back-to-back Skyline Conference Tournament titles and its only two NCAA Championship berths in 2003 and 2004. Her teams won 23-plus games in '03 and '04, including a program-record 28 wins in 2004.  A two-time Skyline Conference Coach of the Year, Stone was also named the 2004 U.S. Merchant Marine Academy Coach of the Year. In 2005, USMMA bestowed its first Power of Inspiration Coaching Award on the New Hampshire native.

Stone was also the head volleyball coach at Kings Point for two seasons. During her brief tenure, the Mariners twice finished runners-up to the Skyline Conference Championship and totaled a combined record of 33-25.  Prior to arriving at USMMA, Stone was the assistant softball coach at BYU-Hawaii. She also served as an assistant coach for three seasons at Christopher Newport, and for one season at WestConn following graduation.  Stone held numerous WestConn offensive records upon graduation and still holds the program's career game-winning RBI record (10).  She lives in Brookfield, Connecticut with her 21-year old daughter MacQuarrie who is enjoying a collegiate career at Barry University in Florida.