Bio

Head softball coach Kassie James returns to Angelina College carrying plenty of coaching and playing experience from her career in softball. Coach James began her career as a two-year starter at third base for Angeline College, where she broke six school records, was named a two-time NFCA All-American, and helped lead Angelina to a 2014 NJCAA National Championship – the school’s only national title to date. James later was inducted into the Angelina College Hall of Fame in 2016.

Following her career at AC, James would spend two years at Houston Baptist University (now Houston Christian University), where she was a two-year starter at the hot corner for the Huskies. In 2017 and 2018, James earned Southland Conference Honorable Mention honors and later graduated from Houston Baptist with a bachelor’s degree in Interdisciplinary Studies.
 
Upon graduating from Houston Baptist, James would in 2018 go onto the University of Dallas, where she served as a graduate assistant/assistant softball coach working specifically with pitchers while playing a large role in the recruiting effort. James then graduated from the University of Dallas with a Master of Leadership Degree.

 After one season with the University of Dallas, James would spend a short stint as an associate head coach at Frank Phillips College in Borger, Texas. There, she would work with both their pitchers and infielders while playing a role in recruiting and community outreach projects.

 James would continue her coaching career, spending the 2020 season as an assistant coach at McNeese State University where she was tasked specifically with player development.

The next stop for James was at NCAA Division II University of Arkansas at Monticello, where she served as the assistant coach and was in charge of pitcher and catcher development. In the 2021 season, James guided UAM’s sophomore pitcher through a three-game series that finished with three shutout wins, earning her the GAC Co-Pitcher of the Week – only the second UAM softball player to earn the award in four years. Those wins clinched UAM a spot to compete in postseason play for the first time in four years. Academically, the bullpen’s combined GPA for the year was 3.6.

The 2022 season took James to the Rocky Mountains, as she would accept a job with the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs for the 2022 season. There, she was named an assistant coach overseeing pitching primarily while assisting with scouting and recruiting. In the 2022 season, she guided the team’s junior pitcher to her first ever complete-game shutout and their senior pitcher to a career high for strikeouts in a single game. UCCS went on to have their best season record and first postseason appearance and postseason win in three years.

In 2023, James broke through and secured her first head-coaching position as she was tabbed the head coach of Otero Junior College in La Junta, Colorado.

Later, James was named an assistant softball coach at Stephen F. Austin State University over the summer. At SFA, she was in charge of pitcher and catcher development and guided players to earning WAC All-Conference titles and multiple Pitcher of the Week honors.

Finally, Coach James comes to Angelina College after a highly successful 2025 season as the head coach at Kirbyville High School, where the Ladycats were Bi-District Champions while accumulating 10 All-District honors.

Word from the Coach:

“My focus is on full player development, from academics to athletics to who they are as people. I care about developing the whole player and person. I want them to leave Angelina College and be part of the conversation when we talk about how proud we are of our alumni. I would say I’m very player-centered, but I’m also very competitive.

“I want players who come here wanting the chance to develop enough to play at the next level, whether it’s Division I or whatever. In my experience, those players who have the goal of playing at a four-year program are always working to get better, and they want the competition.”