Softball
- Title:
- Head Coach
- Email:
- kshaw@umkc.edu
- Phone:
- 816-235-5837
- Alma Mater:
- Missouri Western State
- Graduating Year:
- 1993
- EXPERIENCE:
- 4th year (heading into 2023)
- Hometown:
- Bates City, Mo.
The Kerry Shaw File |
| Alma Mater: Missouri Western State, 1993 |
| Hometown: Bates City, Mo. |
|
Wife: Cheri |
| Children: Tiffany, Hillary and Zac |
|
Experience: 4th year (heading into 2023 season); 7th year overall at college level |
Head College Coaching Experience |
|
Kansas City: 48-73 (.397, 3rd season) |
| 2022: 13-34 |
| 2021: 29-26 |
| 2020: 6-13 (cut short due to COVID-19 pandemic) |
|
University of Mary (N.D.): 55-87 (.387) |
| 2018: 18-19 (.486) |
| 2017: 20-35 (.364) |
| 2016: 17-33 (.340) |
| COLLEGE OVERALL: 103-160 (.392, 6 seasons) |
Coaching Milestones at Kansas City |
| First Win Over Ranked Opponent: 6-5, vs. #6 Oklahoma State on March 19, 2021 (Stillwater, Oklahoma) |
| Win No. 100: 4-3, vs. Western Illinois on April 23, 2022 (Kansas City, Mo.) |
| Win No. 1: 4-3, vs. Stephen F. Austin on Feb. 14, 2020 (Arlington, Texas) |
| Coached Game No. 1: vs. Kent State on Feb. 14, 2020 (Lost, 13-5, 6 inn.) |
Coaching Honors |
| Missouri ASA Softball Hall of Fame (Player) |
On Aug. 12, 2019, Kerry Shaw became the seventh head coach in Kansas City softball history. The Bates City, Mo., native is a 1993 graduate from Missouri Western State University and previously was the head coach at NCAA Division II University of Mary (N.D.) from 2016-18.
In the 2022 season, Shaw picked up his 100th victory as a head coach on April 23 in the 4-3 win over Western Illinois. The Roos finished with a 9-11 record in Summit play and the five-seed in the conference tournament. He also scheduled the toughest schedule of his tenure, breaking his records set the year prior, playing seven games against ranked opponents.
After his first season was shortened by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Shaw's unit posted a 29-26 record in 2021, marking the program’s first winning season in a decade. Shaw led the program to their first win over a ranked opponent when the Roos defeated No. 6 Oklahoma State on March 13, 2021 in a 6-5 decision.
In his first full season leading the Roos, Shaw broke ground by playing the most ranked teams in program history, while also finishing with the third best record and third most wins in the tenure of the program. He also led KC to a third-place finish in the conference tournament in their return to The Summit League.
Prior to Kansas City, Shaw was the hitting coach at the University of Texas in Austin for the 2019 season. During that year, the Longhorns posted a 46-17 record, the most wins for the program since 2013. Texas won a NCAA Regional and reached the NCAA Super Regionals for the first time since 2013. His batters broke the school single-season record for doubles with 91 and he helped mentor five players that hit .300 or better last season, including All-America second baseman Janae Jefferson and All-Region catcher Mary Iakopo.
From 2016-18, Shaw was the head coach at Mary in Bismarck, N.D. With the Marauders, he was in charge of all recruiting and evaluation of prospective student-athletes, practice planning and implementation, scouting, video analysis and game planning, travel and budgeting, fundraising and student-athlete academic monitoring.
Prior to his time at the University of Mary, Shaw spent the 2015 campaign as a Division I assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Southeast Missouri State in Cape Girardeau, Mo.
At the interscholastic level, Shaw served from 2010-14 as both the softball and baseball coach at Odessa High School, leading the baseball team to conference and district titles and the softball squad to a state playoff appearance. He also had a successful career as the head baseball coach for Grain Valley High School from 1994-2002, leading his team to three conference championships and two state playoff appearances.
Additionally, Shaw also coached an American Legion baseball team in Oak Grove from 2009-2012, and was the assistant coach from 1992-2016 in the Ban Johnson Amateur Collegiate Baseball Summer League in Kansas City, Mo.
Before venturing into coaching, Shaw began his own standout playing career on the baseball team at William Jewell College from 1984-86 before heading to the University of South Carolina-Aiken for the 1987 campaign. From there, he went on to play from 1988-91 as part of the San Francisco Giants organization (MLB) with minor league teams based in Salt Lake City (Utah), Salinas (Calif.) and San Jose (Calif.), hitting .265 over a 288-game career with 47 extra-base hits and 121 RBIs.
Following his time in the minor leagues, Shaw began a successful fast-pitch career in St. Joseph, Mo. He played a part in winning five ASA Major National Championships and the 2002 ISC World Championship while earning seven ASA All-American and two ISC All-World selections. For his outstanding efforts, he was inducted into the Missouri ASA Softball Hall of Fame.
A two-time ASA Major Tournament Most Valuable Player in 2000 and 2001, Shaw was also a part of the U.S. Men's National Fast pitch Team from 2001-03, winning a gold medal at the 2002 Pan Am Qualifier in Guatemala and a silver medal at the 2003 Pan Am Games in the Dominican Republic.
Shaw earned a bachelor's degree in health & physical education from Missouri Western State. He is married to Cheri and has three children, Tiffany, Hillary and Zac, and two grandsons, Aiden and Jackson.
What people are saying about head coach Kerry Shaw:
“Coach Shaw will be a great asset to Kansas City Athletics. He is a good head coach and knows the Kansas City area well,” said the University of Texas head softball coach Mike White. “He understands the game inside and out, and will be able to recruit local talent.”
“The University of Texas, including myself, Mike White and Chris Delconte, are thrilled that Kerry has an opportunity to lead the Kansas City Softball program, a great school in a great market,” said the University of Texas Chief of Staff / Executive Senior Associate Athletics Director Chris Plonsky. “The fit is right for Kerry, a coach who does it the right way and cares about the student-athletes. Kerry is in college athletics for the right reason, he is a great technical teacher, and operates with integrity.”
“As the official home of Kansas City Softball, the MLB Urban Youth Academy is excited for the hire of Kerry Shaw,” said the Kansas City Royals Senior Director of Baseball Operations. “As someone who grew up playing in The Parade Park for coach Don Motley, coach Shaw deeply understands the landscape of softball and baseball in our Community. We look forward to working with him, his staff and all the Kansas City Softball student-athletes in the coming years!”
