Softball coach inducted into Hall of Fame

Alumni Athletic Association honors former player, current assistant coach

 

By Michelle Fithian, On-Line Forty-Niner

Thursday, October 8, 1998

Kim Kostyk-Sowder, Long Beach State's All-American speedy and slick-fielding shortstop and assistant coach of the softball team, will be inducted into the Long Beach Athletic Hall of Fame in a ceremony that will be held Oct. 14 at the Westin Long Beach Hotel.

Sowder helped lead the 49ers to three College World Series appearances during her tenure at The Beach.

"Going to the World Series those three years was the best," said Sowder.

The starting shortstop all four years for the 49ers, 1989-92, Sowder is currently entering her third year as an assistant coach at The Beach.

Sowder appears throughout the softball record books including seven career records and 14 single-season and numerous other miscellaneous records.

Her 52 career sacrifices and 50 stolen bases ranks first in the Long Beach State history and her 96 runs and 860 at bats puts her second in the record books. Her 19 thefts in 1991 is the best single-season mark in 49er history and she holds the top three single season assist marks, including a school-record 243 assists in 1992.

"I definitely grew a lot as a player. I had the opportunity to be leader," said Sowder. "Our team was really proud to be from Long Beach. We had a lot of confidence and were proud to be who we were. We were pretty competitive. That's part of the reason we were good. We had a competitive attitude."

In 1991, she was a third team All-America selection and she was named second team All-Big West as a junior and honorable mention as a senior.

In 1991, her junior year, the 49ers downed CS Fullerton in the regionals and then finished fourth at the College World Series, defeating Missouri (1-0) and Fresno State (3-0) before falling to Arizona (1-0) and UCLA (1-0).

Her experience and dedication has led her to a successful run as assistant coach for the 49ers beginning in 1996.

She became the number two person behind the fence, next to her own 49er Head Coach Pete Manarino.

"It works out great. We had a great player-coach relationship. We got a long well and talked all the time. We have a blast out there," Sowder said.During the first crucial season, she worked with the 49er infield and lineup.

She proved to have an immediate impact, as The Beach posted the highest team batting average of .263 in the history of the program, and tied for the Big West Conference lead for fielding percentage of .960.

In 1997, the 49ers nearly matched the batting average mark, hitting .255 as a team, and improved in the field with a .966 fielding percentage.

"I love Long Beach. I'll stay here as long as they'll have me," she said.

"When I finished playing, I would have loved to have coached here and probably thought about it a lot, but there had been an assistant here who had been here a long time so I didn't really think that I was going to have a chance," she said.

"I ended up going to UOP (University of the Pacific) for two years and got some really good experience and then the position here happened to open up," Sowder said.

In the short time she has been in the dugout and off the field, Sowder thinks the game has changed. Good bye to the 12 innings and low scoring games.

"I think the college game a changed a little bit. There's more focus on hitting. They changed the cork on the ball so there's more homeruns. That makes it more alive. Our team won because of our defense," she said.

"We still have a good defense. Last year our team ranked number one in the nation in defensive statistics. It used to be one nothing, one nothing, extra innings almost every night and now there's lots of runs, four or five a game" she said.

In March, Kim and her husband, Shawn, added one more to their family, a baby boy.

Aside from coaching, Sowder teaches classes in the physical education department.

Accompanied by six other student athletes and one coach, Sowder makes up the 1998 class of the Long Beach State Athletic Hall of Fame.