Ashley Wade completed her third season as the UNCW Softball Head Coach in 2025 after being named to the post in August 2022.
Wade, the fifth head coach in program history, inherited the defending 2022 Colonial Athletic Association softball champions and guided the Seahawks back to the top of the league in her second season with the school's second-ever Coastal Athletic Association Championship in 2024. The Seahawks won a program record 18 league games and then defended Boseman Field with four wins over four days to earn the CAA's automatic qualifer berth to the NCAA Tournament.
In a mirror of UNCW's 2022 run, juniors Kara Hammock and Emily Winstead recorded every out of the 2024 CAA Tournament with Hammock earning CAA Most Outstanding Performer honors. Wade and the Seahawks went to on to play in the Athens Regional in the 2024 NCAA Softball Tournament.
Under Wade's tutelage, outfielder Skylar Stockton enjoyed a breakout campaign, setting career-highs across on the board on her way to an All-CAA First Team selection. Hammock and second baseman Tayler Vitola, who was the CAA Scholar-Athlete of the Year, were All-CAA Second-Teamers while Cassidy Relay captured CAA All-Rookie accolades as one of the league's top table setters.
The Seahawks' historic 2024 campaign featured 33 total wins, including 21 at home, and a 4-2 road win at North Carolina. Emily Winstead fired the fifth no-hitter in program history on Apr. 27, 2024 at Drexel.
Wade pushed UNCW to new heights in 2023 with a 23-27 record, including a program record 17 conference victories along with softball's highest CAA finish (second place).
Under Wade's tutelage, UNCW produced the most All-CAA First-Teamers in school history with Janel Gamache, Kara Hammock and Arial Pearce earning selections to the league's top team while Tayler Vitola garned a Second-Team nod.
Gamache, a dynamic two-way player, elevated her play under Wade to capture CAA Player of the Year honors after leading the Seahawks with a .364 average and tying for first in the CAA with a 1.93 ERA in the circle. Gamache and Hammock (1.98 ERA) spearheaded a Seahawk staff that produced a 2.71 ERA, good for second in the circuit.
The 2023 Seahawks were the first team in program history to sweep all home conference series, ending the year a perfect 12-0 in CAA home games and 17-9 overall at Boseman Field. UNCW opened CAA play with a sweep of Towson in which it exploded for 32 hits over three games, the second-highest total in a three-game CAA series since joining the league in 2004.
Wade picked up her first win as the Seahawks skipper on Feb. 9, 2023, with a walk-off 2-1 victory over Purdue Fort Wayne in eight innings. UNCW also dispatched North Carolina for the first time in five years which also represented the program's first victory over a Power Five foe since 2019.
Prior UNCW, Wade spent seven seasons on the staff at Northern Illinois. A native of Baltimore, Md., Wade arrived in DeKalb, Ill., in 2015 before being promoted to Associate Head Coach in 2019 under Huskies Head Coach Christina Sutcliffe.
During her 13-year coaching career, Wade has worked with two NCAA All-American selections, six CoSIDA Academic All-Americans, 13 National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) All-Region honorees, 45 All-Conference selections and an NCAA Top-25 Freshman.
Wade was involved in all facets of the NIU program. Wade, who worked primarily with infield, outfield and team defense, also arranged fall game schedules, scouting reports and oversaw the program's operational and equipment budgets.
She collaborated with academic advisors to oversee NIU's success in the classroom, with the Huskies posting a 3.639 team GPA, the 14th best mark in the nation, during the 2021-22 academic year.
In seven seasons with the Huskies, Wade helped the team rack up 162 wins and their first division title in 16 years when they captured the 2016 Mid-American Conference West Division crown in her first year. The 35-win campaign was followed by 33 victories in 2017, the program's first back-to-back 30-win seasons since 1999-2000.
Wade spent the 2015 season as an assistant coach at Northwestern Oklahoma State, where she was responsible for working with the Rangers' outfielders and hitters. The Rangers batted .286 with 41 home runs and 183 RBIs in 49 games.
The Seahawk skipper earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration from Stevenson in 2013. Wade was a volunteer assistant for three seasons with the Mustangs softball team under Head Coach Joey Lye, a bronze medalist with Team Canada at the 2020 Olympics, and helped lead Stevenson to its first Middle Atlantic Conference championship appearance in 2013.
With a school-record 24 wins, the Mustangs qualified for the Eastern College Athletic Conference South Championship which marked the program's second-ever postseason appearance.
Prior to Stevenson, Wade served as an assistant coach at Coppin State for the 2010 and 2011 seasons. Joining a program that totaled five victories from 2007-09, Wade helped the Eagles win a school-record 22 games in 2010 and reached the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference tournament for the first time in six years. Coppin State had four All-MEAC First-Teamers and the league's Pitcher of the Year in Paige Arnold.
The 2011 Eagles softball team played to an 18-16 record, the first winning season in program history, and won their first MEAC tournament game. Coppin State established 22 school records in Wade's two-year stint.
Before arriving at Coppin State, Wade earned her Associate of Arts degree from the Community College of Baltimore County Dundalk in 2007, where she played one season for the Lady Lions.
Wade earned her Master of Science Degree in Sports Management from NIU in 2018, along with a certification in Sports Psychology. She was designated a One-Star Master Coach by the NFCA.
The Ashley Wade File
Full Name: Ashley Nicole Wade
Hometown: Baltimore, Md.
Education: B.S., Business Administration, Stevenson, 2013; M.S., Sport Management, Northern Illinois, 2018
Ashley Wade Head Coach Record
| Year |
School |
Record |
Pct. |
Conf. Record |
Conf. Pct. |
Finish |
Postseason |
| 2023 |
UNCW |
23-27 |
.460 |
17-7 |
.708 |
2nd |
|
| 2024 |
UNCW |
33-23 |
.589 |
18-9 |
.667 |
4th |
CAA Tournament Champions
NCAA Athens Regional |
| 2025 |
UNCW |
28-22 |
.560 |
14-13 |
.519 |
7th |
|
The Wade Coaching Timeline
| Year |
School |
Record |
Role |
| 2010 |
Coppin State |
22-22 |
Assistant Coach |
| 2011 |
Coppin State |
18-16 |
Assistant Coach |
| 2012 |
Stevenson |
19-22 |
Volunteer Assistant |
| 2013 |
Stevenson |
24-23 |
Volunteer Assistant |
| 2014 |
Stevenson |
16-23 |
Volunteer Assistant |
| 2015 |
Northwestern Oklahoma State |
22-27 |
Assistant Head Coach |
| 2016 |
Northern Illinois |
35-20 |
Assistant Head Coach |
| 2017 |
Northern Illinois |
33-21 |
Assistant Head Coach |
| 2018 |
Northern Illinois |
24-32 |
Assistant Head Coach |
| 2019 |
Northern Illinois |
27-25 |
Assistant Head Coach |
| 2020 |
Northern Illinois |
7-15 |
Associate Head Coach |
| 2021 |
Northern Illinois |
19-37 |
Associate Head Coach |
| 2022 |
Northern Illinois |
17-28 |
Associate Head Coach |
| 2023 |
UNCW |
23-27 |
Head Coach |
| 2024 |
UNCW |
33-23 |
Head Coach |
| 2025 |
UNCW |
28-22 |
Head Coach |
What They're Saying About Coach Wade
"We couldn’t be prouder of Ashley and are excited to see her hard work pay off. While it’s difficult to have her leave, we wish her nothing but success in her quest to continue to build on her new program’s history and defend a championship. Nothing but greatness is in Coach Wade’s future."
-Christina Sutcliffe, Northern Illinois Softball Head Coach
Coach Wade in the News
