13th Season
• 3 AMC Coach of the Year Awards
• 5 AMC Championships
• 4 NAIA National Tournament Appearances
As she enters her 13th season as the head coach of the McKendree University softball program there isn’t much that Evelyn Bean has left to do. Already the program’s all-time leader in wins, she has established the Bearcats as an annual threat to win the American Midwest Conference.
In 12 seasons, Bean has guided the Bearcats to the NAIA Softball National Championship tournament three times, including a fifth-place finish at the 1999 championship. She has also led the Bearcats to three AMC regular season championships and two AMC tournament championships.
During Bean’s tenure, the Bearcats have had three NAIA All-America players, three American Midwest Conference Player of the Year honorees, two players named American Midwest Conference Newcomer of the Year, one American Midwest Conference Pitcher of the Year, two American Midwest Conference Freshman of the Year, one NAIA Region V Player of the Year, 54 AMC First-Team All-Conference players and 23 NAIA All-Region V players.
Bean has put together a program that is not only successful on the field but in the classroom as well. The Bearcats have had 36 NAIA Scholar-Athletes, 30 NAIA Region V Academic All-Region players and 203 American Midwest Conference Academic All-Conference performers. In 2008 and 2009, the McKendree softball team has had the second and fourth-highest GPA’s in NAIA softball , respectively.
Bean’s success in leading her program on and off the field has not gone unnoticed as she has been named the American Midwest Conference Coach of the Year three times, with the most recent honor coming in 2007. She was also named the NAIA Region V Coach of the Year in 1999 and 2001.
A 1985 graduate of Greenville College, Bean earned a bachelor’s degree in physical education. While at Greenville, Bean played both softball and volleyball. Bean came to McKendree after spending 10 years as the head coach of both the softball and volleyball programs at Lewis and Clark Community College where she compiled an overall record of 215-202 as softball coach.
In 2007, Bean earned her master’s degree in Education from McKendree and she’s also a member of Phi Kappa Phi, the nation’s oldest, largest, and most selective honor society for all academic disciplines.
A firm believer in the term student-athlete, members of the McKendree softball program are students first and athletes second, a combination that has led to the success of her program.
“I want the young ladies to take advantage of all possible opportunities,” said Bean. “After four years, I want the players to graduate with a strong academic background and have lasting memories of their softball career.”
