Kentucky softball coach Eileen Schimdt has announced the hiring of assistants Melissa Inouye and Ashley Lewis to complete her staff. Inouye and Lewis have spent the past year at Northwestern State serving as assistants to Schmidt, who was named Kentucky?s new head coach last month.
Inouye comes to the Bluegrass state after spending last season as an assistant coach at Northwestern State, in Natchitoches, La. Previously, she served as a volunteer assistant coach at her alma mater, UNLV.
During her playing career at UNLV, Inouye played catcher and first base for the Rebels. In her last two seasons, she started all 120 games and in 2002, received the UNLV Coaches Award. She was a leader both on and off the field, earning a spot on the UNLV Dean’s List seven times as well as winning Academic All-Mountain West Conference honors three times. Inouye graduated with two degrees. In May 2001 she earned a bachelor’s degree in fitness and sports management and earned a second bachelor’s degree in December 2002 in recreation and leisure studies.
At NSU, her responsibilities with the Demon softball program included coaching the outfielders, hitters, recruiting, coordinating team travel, camp coordinator, fundraising and serving as the first base coach.
Inouye graduated from Mililani High School in 1997 as a four-year softball letterwinner and also played basketball. She picked up all-state honors in softball as a senior. She was named the Oahu Interscholastic Association West Player of the Year as a sophomore pitcher and was a member of the OIA West Team three times.
Perhaps the greatest high school softball pitcher in Louisiana state history, Lewis joins the Kentucky staff following one season as an assistant coach at Northwestern. Prior to coaching, Lewis had a magnificent collegiate playing career at Texas A&M and Louisiana State University.
Lewis was a three-time high school All-American in her freshman, sophomore and junior seasons. She was Louisiana’s first-ever “Miss Softball,” voted by the Louisiana Sports Writers Association, and was named the 1997 Louisiana Female Athlete of the Year.
She set a national high school record with 40 career no-hitters at Baton Rouge-Central, where her jersey is retired. She was the state Class 5A Most Valuable Player as a sophomore and junior, earning All-State Class 5A honors all four seasons at Central. She was district MVP in her final three years while helping Central win three district championships and two state titles. Lewis went 76-9-2 with an 0.40 ERA and struck out an incredible 1,053 batters in 466 innings at Central while she carried a career .415 batting average. She capped her prep career by winning MVP honors in the state softball All-Star Game and was recruited by Arizona, Oklahoma, Texas A&M, Alabama and Washington, among others, and spent her freshman year at Texas A&M, earning All-Big 12 and second-team All-Region honors as a utility player. As a sophomore, she decided to transfer back to her home state and attend LSU.
Despite battling a series of injuries as a Tiger, Lewis piled up more prestigious awards and accomplishments. She was a three-year All-Louisiana selection (2001, 2000, 1999) and was twice picked for the NFCA All-South Region team (2000, 1999), the final step before making the coaches’ All-America team. In 2000, she also made the Easton All-America Team. She picked up a pair of All-Southeastern Conference honors (2000, 1999) and played on three straight SEC championship teams.
She twice made the All-SEC Tournament Team (2000, 1999), receiving tournament MVP honors in 1999. Lewis was also named Louisiana Newcomer of the Year in 1999. As a junior, she posted a .84 ERA, the sixth lowest mark in the nation for 2000. Lewis finished her senior year 21-4 with a 0.81 ERA, helping LSU reach the College World Series for the first time and giving her a career mark of 68-13 with a sub 0.90 ERA.
She was the fourth overall pick in the 2000 Women’s Professional Softball League draft. She also played in the 2000 SEC All-Star Game against the USA Olympic Team. In 1998, she played in the Canada Cup competition.
Lewis graduated with a bachelor’s degree from LSU in human science and development in December 2002. She was in sales and marketing until accepting the coaching position at Northwestern.
Lewis? younger brother Ryan is also a student athlete, playing infield for the NSU baseball team and quarterback for the Demon football team. Her uncle, Steve Ensminger, coaches the tight ends at Auburn.
