Tracy Bunge

Tracy was a two-sport standout at Bartlesville’s Sooner High where she played basketball and softball.  She received multiple honors both on the court and on the field and was a member of the 1980 State Softball championship team. In 1982 traveling with the local Blazer Softball program she helped take the team to a third place finish at the National ASA tournament held that year in Las Cruses, New Mexico.  College was the next step where she continues her career at the University of Kansas (KU). As a Jayhawk from 1982-86, she completed her softball collegiate playing days as one of the most decorated athletes ever to wear the Crimson and Blue. A 1986 All-American, and a 1987 inductee to the Kansas Athletics Hall of Fame, Tracy dominated both on the mound and at the plate. During her Jayhawk tenure, Tracy led KU to three 30-win seasons and three Top 10 national rankings. She ended her decorated career by leading KU to a 39-8 record and a number five final national ranking in 1986. As a freshman in 1983, Tracy compiled a 23-8 record with an amazing 0.63 ERA and 185 strikeouts in 234 innings pitched. She also finished second on the team with a .258 batting average and led the 33-9 Jayhawks with 15 RBI. A year later, Tracy hit .341 with 10 RBI and finished with a 0.73 ERA in 21 appearances as a pitcher. Tracy continued to impress as a junior when she went 24-11 on the mound with a 0.82 ERA and hit .358 with 24 RBI. As a senior, Tracy rounded out her Kansas playing career by setting the KU single-season mark with a 0.55 ERA while hurling 15 shutouts, good for fifth all-time. She currently holds the career record for lowest ERA (0.68).

Tracy’s playing career continued for several years after KU with stops in Iowa, St. Louis and ended in Connecticut with the Raybestos Brakettes.  As a member of the the Brakettes, she was part of a national championship season and a second place finish at the ASA Women’s Major Tournament.  At that the time, there was no women’s professional softball and this was the highest level of play in the United States.

Following KU graduation, Tracy began her coaching career with her first position at Iowa State as an assistant.  Five years later, she moved to Connecticut and had the honor to help Yale to its first-ever Ivy League softball title.

From Yale, Tracy took her first head coaching position at Ohio University. Ohio won its first Mid-American Conference title in her second season and she was named Coach of the Year by the MAC.  After completing three years at Ohio, Kansas University came calling and she returned home to her alma mater as their head coach. Tracy spent 13 years at KU where her teams made five NCAA regional appearances, one NCAA super regional appearance and had one Big 12 Tournament Championship.

Since her retirement from college coaching in 2009, she began a softball consulting/instructional business out of Lawrence, Kansas. She currently works with younger athletes who vary in age from 8-18. Tracy also does consulting work with coaches and teams, as well as conducting camps and clinics.

In 2010, Tracy had the opportunity to join the Dutch National Softball staff as a part-time assistant coach. That year she traveled with the team to her first World Championships held in Caracas, Venezuela where the Dutch finished seventh.  The European Championships in Ronchi, Italy came in 2011 with the Dutch finishing in first place.  In 2012, she returned again with the Dutch to the World Championships, held in Whitehorse, Canada where that team finished sixth. This summer she will once again join the Dutch at her third World Championships to be held in Haarlem, Netherlands. On Jun 9, 2014, at 3:10 PM,