Ron Ferrill was selected as the new Head Coach of the Truman State University Softball program in August of 2022. Ferrill served the past 12 seasons at St. Ambrose (Iowa) University where he compiled a record of 321-231-1.
Ron Ferrill’s second season at the helm of the Bulldogs saw the squad reach the 20-win mark for the first time in five years while also qualifying for their first GLVC postseason tournament in the 20s.
The Bulldogs finished the season with 23 victories, up six from year one and finished .500 in conference play with a 13-13 record to earn the sixth seed in the tournament. The team swept seven doubleheaders with five coming during conference play. The Bulldogs also pushed nationally-ranked Indianapolis at home, having leads in both games of their doubleheader with the Greyhounds.
Cassie Smith and Emily Wood both earned all-GLVC honors with Smith picking up a first-team choice as a utility player and Wood was a second-team selection in the outfield. Wood garnered additional attention as she was placed on the National Fastpitch Coaches Association “Watch List” for Division II Player of the Year accolades during the season and was selected as an all-region pick.
The team hit .273 with 69 doubles and 94 stolen bases. The 69 doubles tied for the fifth most in a Bulldog single-season and the 122 stolen base attempts cracked the top 10. Pitching, the Bulldogs improved on their ERA from a season ago and their six saves were the second most in a single-season. Fielding-wise, the Bulldogs posted the eighth-best single-season fielding percentage with a .968 mark.
In his first season in 2022, the Bulldogs showed a dramatic increase in wins under Coach Ferrill moving up from eight the previous year to 17. They also improved by four conference wins. The team had doubleheader sweeps over Lincoln, and Southwest Baptist and closed the season with a sweep over William Jewell on Senior Day.
The team went from 23 stolen bases in 2021 to 103 in 2022.
The pitching staff also improved with a 5.43 ERA and had 16 complete games up from only seven a season before.
McKenzie West earned second-team all-GLVC honors as a designated player. West hit .340 in 44 games with three home runs and 23 runs batted in. Alex Beard led the team in hitting with a .347 average.
Ferrill won a national championship in his first two years of coaching collegiate softball at Robert Morris University in Springfield, Illinois. He led the Lady Eagles to a second place finish in 2009 and the USCAA Championship in 2010 with a record of 38-12.
He moved to St. Ambrose in 2011 and after his only sub .500 season, guided the Bees to 25 or more victories in the seven seasons leading up to the COVID pandemic of 2020. In 2013, Ferrill led the Bees to their first Midwest Collegiate Conference (MCC) championship as they matched a school record with a 40-15 mark, he was named the MCC Coach of the Year.
Ten players at St. Ambrose earned all-region honors under Coach Ferrill’s tutelage and 41 players were selected to the all-MCC team during his tenure. He also had the league’s freshman of the year in 2016.
In 2015, he began moonlighting as head coach at Assumption (Iowa) High School in Davenport where his teams won four state titles, finished in the top three in the state tournament for seven consecutive years and had an overall record of 293-36-1.
Ferrill is a graduate of Western Illinois University and a veteran serving in the United States Army. He is a native of Dallas City, Illinois.
| School |
Year |
Record |
Accomplishments |
| Truman State |
2024 |
23-29 |
First GLVC Tournament appearance since 2019 for Truman |
|
2023 |
17-37 |
Bulldogs saw a +9 increase in wins from the season before. |
| St. Ambrose |
2022 |
27-17 |
|
|
2021 |
19-12 |
|
|
2020 |
13-11 |
|
|
2019 |
30-18 |
|
|
2018 |
27-20 |
|
|
2017 |
33-18 |
|
|
2016 |
35-18 |
|
|
2015 |
26-24-1 |
|
|
2014 |
32-22 |
|
|
2013 |
40-15 |
Conference Coach of the Year |
|
2012 |
29-27 |
|
|
2011 |
10-29 |
|
|
|
|
|
| Assumption HS |
2022 |
36-9 |
State runner-up |
|
2021 |
40-3 |
State Champions, Conference Coach of the Year |
|
2020 |
21-6 |
State third place |
|
2019 |
41-2 |
State Champions, State Coach of the Year |
|
2018 |
39-3-1 |
State Champions, Conference Coach of the Year |
|
2017 |
44-1 |
State Champions, Conference Coach of the Year,
All-Iowa Coach of the Year |
|
2016 |
41-5 |
State runner-up, Conference Coach of the Year |
|
2015 |
31-7 |
District Coach of the Year |
|
|
|
|
| Robert Morris |
2010 |
38-12 |
USCAA National Champions |
|
2009 |
23-13 |
|
| Overall Coaching Record |
24 Seasons |
715-358-2 |
|
| Collegiate Record |
16 Seasons |
422-322-1 |
|
