ORONO, Maine — University of Maine Director of Athletics Jude Killy announced the hiring of Kimberly Stiles as the seventh head coach of the Maine softball program on Tuesday.

Stiles, who has achieved over 300 collegiate victories during her coaching career, comes to Orono with 14 years of head coaching experience across the Division I and Division II levels.

"We are pleased to announce Kimberly Stiles as the next head softball coach at the University of Maine," said Killy. "Through an extensive and intensive process, Kimberly demonstrated her reputation for a great knowledge of the game and a tireless work ethic in supporting students to be the best versions of themselves, on and off the field. Her experience as a head coach, in recruiting to the Northeast and her desire to be at and build our program at Maine also stood out. We are excited about adding Kimberly to our department and University."

Stiles has spent the past three seasons at Holy Cross, guiding the Crusaders' program to 50 wins in a three-year span for the first time in 25 years. Prior to her time in Worcester, Stiles served as the head coach at Division II University of Charleston for five years — posting over 130 wins and earning a spot in the NCAA Tournament — and was the head coach at Division II Davis & Elkins College for six years.

"I am honored and excited to accept this position," said Stiles. "The investment in softball at the University of Maine and energy surrounding athletics right now is truly incredible. I am grateful to Jude Killy and the entire search committee for this opportunity and cannot wait to get started."

Under Stiles, the Crusaders had three players earn National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) All-Northeast Region honors, four All-Patriot League honors and four CSC Academic All-District honors. Stiles and the Crusaders posted 50 wins from 2022-24, marking the first time since the 1998-2000 seasons that the program posted 50 wins over three seasons. In her first year at the helm of Holy Cross in 2022, Stiles helped the Crusaders raise both the team batting average and slugging percentage over 45 points while the team RBI total increased by over 60 runs. The 2023 and 2024 seasons under Stiles saw individual records for the second most and fifth most single-season hit totals in program history. Away from the diamond, Stiles served on the NFCA DI Head Coaches Committee, the NFCA DI Top 25 Committee and the NFCA Ethics Committee.

At Charleston, Stiles guided the Golden Eagles to a record of 141-83 over five seasons and to the NCAA Division II Tournament. Additionally, 12 student-athletes were honored with All-Mountain East accolades and six earned NFCA All-Region honors. In Stiles' final season at Charleston in 2021, the Golden Eagles went 30-14 overall with a 23-9 mark in the Mountain East Conference while earning a Top-25 national ranking. Before the 2020 season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Stiles' team jumped out to the best start in program history at 14-2 and a spot in the national rankings. Stiles guided the Golden Eagles to a 33-21 record in 2019 and a 27-25 mark in 2018. In her first year at the helm of the Golden Eagles, the nationally-ranked Charleston squad went 37-21 with five All-Conference honorees and advanced to the 2017 NCAA Tournament. Stiles was a member of the NFCA DII Head Coaches Committee and the NFCA DII Top-25 Committee.

The Thurmont, Md. native was the head coach at Davis & Elkins College from 2011-16, winning at least 20 games in four of her six seasons while posting 135 victories to become the winningest softball coach in Davis & Elkins history. She coached 11 All-Great Midwest Athletic Conference honorees. Additionally in her time at Davis & Elkins, Stiles served as the Assistant Director of Athletics and Senior Woman Administrator and also served on the NCAA Midwest Softball Regional Advisory Committee. 

Stiles got her start in coaching at Midwestern State, serving as a graduate assistant for two seasons and an assistant coach for one. While at Midwestern, she was part of a program that earned three NCAA Tournament Regional appearances and was a member of the 2010 NFCA DII Regional Coaching Staff of the Year.

As a student-athlete, Stiles spent one year at the University of Vermont before transferring to the University of Pittsburgh for her final three seasons. She was a two-time Big East Academic All-Star selection for the Panthers and earned NFCA All-America Scholar-Athlete honors for the Catamounts. 

Stiles earned her bachelor's degree in communication and political science from Pittsburgh in 2007 and her master's degree in kinesiology and athletic administration from Midwestern State in 2009.

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Coaching Career
2024-present: University of Maine, Head Coach
2022-24: Holy Cross, Head Coach
2017-21: University of Charleston, Head Coach
2011-16: Davis & Elkins College, Head Coach
2008-10: Midwestern State, Assistant Coach