Upper Iowa Director of Athletics Rick Hartzell announced that Head Softball Coach Amanda Bradberry (picutred below) will leave the Peacocks and head south to become the Head Softball Coach at Truman State University, in Kirksville, Mo. Truman State is a NCAA Division II institution and a member of the Great Lakes Valley Conference.
 
"I am happy for Amanda," said Hartzell. "This new position will allow her to be closer to her family and continue on her coaching career at a great university. She has done a great job leading this program and has left the cupboard full of quality student-athletes who perform on the field and in the classroom. I will strive to hire a tremendous coach to move the program into the successful future it deserves."
 
Bradberry will head to Truman State to replace Erin Brown, who coached the Bulldogs for 13 seasons and qualified for the NCAA postseason 5 times.
 
"I would like to thank both of my athletics directors, David Miller and Rick Hartzell, for the opportunity to serve as head softball coach for the past six years," said Bradberry.  "I would also like to thank the student-athletes I have had the privilege to coach – it has been a true honor to work with each of them and see each woman be successful on and off the softball field.  In addition, I thank the community of Fayette for its continued support of the softball program.  I have enjoyed my time at Upper Iowa and will miss the student-athletes, athletics staff and community, but am excited for this new opportunity.  I wish the softball program all the best going forward – the future of the program looks great!"
 
Bradberry was with the Peacock softball program for seven years after arriving in Fayette for the 2012-13 academic year. . After a season as the assistant, she was promoted to head coach and has led the Peacocks for the last six years in that role. She led the Peacock softball program to a school-record 41 wins in 2016, including a 21-7 mark in the Northern Sun Conference. Upper Iowa won their first-ever NSIC Tournament Championship that season and qualified for the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history as well. The Peacocks won two games in Arkansas and reached the regional site final (final 32 teams in the nation).
 
Upper Iowa has posted a record of 147-157 overall over the last six seasons and an 85-83 mark against Northern Sun Conference foes qualifying for the NSIC tournament in four of the six seasons.
 
Upper Iowa finished the 2019 campaign with a 23-24 record overall and a 15-15 mark in the NSIC earning the No. 8 seed in the NSIC Softball Tournament. In the middle of the season, the Peacocks went on a nine-game winning streak, which began on Apr. 5 and lasted until Apr. 15. The run included sweeps over Southwest Minnesota State, Wayne State, Bemidji State and Minnesota Crookston. UIU was able to earn splits with MSU Moorhead, Northern State, Concordia-St. Paul, Sioux Falls and St. Cloud State in addition to their final wins of the season with a sweep of UMary. Sophomore first baseman Katie Crogan earned a spot on both the All-NSIC Second Team and the All-NSIC Gold Glove Team after leading the team in almost every major offensive category including hits (40), home runs (7), RBI (33), batting average (.412), slugging percentage (.691), on-base percentage (.467) and total bases (67).
 
A search for the next head softball coach will begin immediately.