HUNTSVILLE | The National Fastpitch Coaches Association will induct its 2014 Hall of Class on Friday, and renowned University of Alabama in Huntsville softball coach Les Stuedeman will be a member of the four-person group that will be enshrined at the organization's annual convention held this year in Las Vegas.
 
Stuedeman will be joined by Oklahoma City University head coach Phil McSpadden, SUNY Cortland head coach Julie Lenhart, and NFCA Executive Director Lacy Lee Baker.
 
Creating a national power during her tenure in Huntsville, Stuedeman – UAH's only softball coach in the program's 19 years – has guided the Chargers to an impressive 894-278-1 record. The team has never had a losing season and has averaged more than 47 wins per season.
 
The fourth winningest active coach in Division II, Stuedeman became the 17th coach in Division II history to win 800 games with a victory in the regular season finale in 2012, and through last season, she ranked 20th all-time in winning percentage across all NCAA divisions.
 
In her team's most recent campaign, the squad advanced to the NCAA South Super Regional for a second consecutive year after earning the top seed in the region following a tremendous regular season campaign that saw UAH pick up six wins over nationally-ranked opponents while winning nine Gulf South Conference series.

Stuedeman's teams have earned a berth to the NCAA Tournament 17 times – including a stretch of 12 in a row with the team's 2014 berth – and the Chargers have captured four South Region titles (1999, 2001, 2009 and 2011). In 2009 and 2011, she guided the Chargers to the brink of a national championship, finishing as the Division II Softball National Championships runner-up both seasons. Stuedeman and her staff have been named South Region Coaching Staff of the Year six times (1996, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2009 and 2011).
 
Under Stuedeman, the Chargers have appeared in 12 Gulf South Conference Championship games, winning eight titles, including three in a row from 2006 through 2008. The Chargers have an all-time GSC tournament record of 64-24 – the best mark in the conference.
 
In her extraordinarily successful collegiate coaching stint, Stuedeman also has nine GSC Coach of the Year titles to her credit as she garnered the award in 1996, 2001, and 2002 before winning it four consecutive seasons from 2008-11 and again in 2013 and 2014.
 
The induction will mark the third such honor for Stuedeman as she was enshrined into the Huntingdon Athletic Hall of Fame earlier in 2013, and she is also a member of the Vestavia Hills Athletics Hall of Fame.