Mid-America Christian University

The most tenured coach at Mid-America Christian, Robert Wakefield is entering his 12th season as the softball head coach at Mid-America Christian University in 2023.

In the 2022 campaign, Wakefield led MACU to the NCCAA Semifinal to the second straight year, guiding the Evangels a 35-23 record, marking the third-most wins in program history. Mid-America Christian was especially dominant the last half of the season, tallying wins in 17 of the last 22 games of the year.

The Evangels picked up some huge wins over the course of the 2022 season, which include a 7-1 win over No. 7 Ottawa (Kan.) at the Red Dirt Classic on Mar. 4 as well as the program's first ever non-forfeited 2-1 victory over No. 2 Oklahoma City in the Sooner Athletic Conference Tournament on May 6.

For the second straight year, Wakefield was named the NCCAA Central Region Coach of the Year while mentoring NCCAA Central Region Player of the Year Rachel Eggleston.

During the 2021 season, Wakefield guided the Evangels to their first ever NCCAA National Championship as MACU finished the year with a record-setting 37-14 (.725) overall record and went 21-9 (.700) in Sooner Athletic Conference play before defeating Concordia-Ann Arbor (Mich.) 3-2 in the NCCAA National Championship game on May 20.

As a result, Wakefield was named both the SAC Coach of the Year and the NCCAA Coach of the Year, his first time garnering both honors.

In that 2021 campaign, the Evangels boasted three NCCAA All-Americans, headlined by senior pitcher Katie Long, who also became the program's first ever NAIA All-American Honorable Mention recipient after boasting a program record low 1.22 ERA while shattering the program's single season strikeout record with 180 while boasting a 19-6 record in the circle.

Regan Martin also became the program's first ever three-time All-American after finishing with a career record low 1.97 ERA to go with a 17-7 record in the circle while Cailey Parsells also earned a Second Team All-America nod after smashing the program's stolen base record with 42 to go with 39 runs scored on a .328 batting average.

Under Wakefield, the Evangels have made four trips to the NCCAA World Series since 2016 and have put together winning seasons in eight of the last nine years dating back to 2014.

The Hall of Fame coach also recorded his 100th career win on Mar. 31, 2016 and picked up his 200th in the season-opener against Crowley's Ridge College on Feb. 15, 2020.

MACU has notched 30 or more wins in four of the last five seasons with the lone exception being the COVID-19 shortened 2020 campaign that saw the season come to an abrupt end on Mar. 10 amist the pandemic.

Wakefield guided the Evangels to 15 wins in his debut season, a six-win improvement from the previous year.  He also led them to a victory in the NCCAA Central Regional Tournament.   

Wakefield brought a highly decorated resume to MACU, as he has been inducted into both the Oklahoma High School Fast Pitch and Slow Pitch Coaches' Association Hall of Fame.

Prior to arriving at MACU, Wakefield was the head coach of the Moore High School Fast Pitch and Slow Pitch softball teams for 13 years.

He also served as head coach of the Plainview High School Fast Pitch Softball squad for 14 years and guided Plainview's baseball program for 19 seasons.

Overall in his high school coaching career, Wakefield has won more than 1,100 games as both a softball and baseball head coach, including a sparkling record of 475-194 in Fast Pitch Softball.

He has coached over 25 All-State athletes in softball and baseball and has led his Fast Pitch and Slow Pitch Softball squads to two state championships each, along with 11 regional Slow Pitch championships and seven regional titles in Fast Pitch.

Wakefield also coached his baseball teams to 16 district titles and five regional championships.

He has received Coach of the Year selections by the Daily Oklahoman, Oklahoma Coaches' Association and the Daily Ardmoreite, while also being named the Region V Coach of the Year and the National Federation of Coaches Sectional Coach of the Year.

Wakefield graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree from Cameron University in Lawton, Okla.

*- season was cut short due to COVID-19 pandemic