2012 Softball Coaches

Ben Tyree begins his third year as the head of the Trevecca softball program, the seventh head coach in the history of the program.

Tyree followed up a successful first season, 21-19 overall and 8-6 in the TranSouth, with a 44-17 campaign, a TranSouth regular season and tournament championships, and a berth in the NAIA National Tournament. The Trojans compiled a 11-3 mark in conference play. At the NAIA Championships Trevecca swept their pool 3-0, advancing to the eight-team, double-elimination championship bracket.

Coach Tyree has coached four NAIA scholar-athletes, a TranSouth Player of the Year, a TranSouth Newcomer of the Year, eight All-TranSouth first team members, two All-TranSouth second team members, and 14 TranSouth scholar-athletes. Additionally, he has earned one TranSouth Coach of the Year honor.

Before joining the Trevecca staff, Tyree was a non-faculty softball coach at Page High School for two years. He served four seasons as the co-head coach of the Silver Bullets, a women's 23-U Fastpitch team. Tyree was also non-faculty coach at Brentwood High in 2005 and coached the Brentwood Blues travel team from 1995-2004. His overall high school record is 98-29.

He has more than 350 ASA/NSA victories, a World Series runner-up finish, and five Top-10 finishes. On the state level he has eight ASA/NSA state championships and two runner-up teams. More than 20 of his players have earned college scholarships at the junior college, NAIA, and NCAA levels. He has also served as an instructor at the University of Tennessee Softball Camp.

Tyree spent 30 years as a basketball referee, working both the high school and college ranks from 1976 to 2005. He was selected to work postseason tournaments on the high school (TSSAA) and college (NAIA, TranSouth Conference, junior college) levels. He was also named president of the Middle-Tennessee Basketball Officials Association and the Official of the Year.

Tyree attended Middle Tennessee State University, earning a bachelor's degree in business administration. He played basketball for Jimmy Earle.

He graduated from Nashville's John Overton High School, where he was the basketball team captain and played on the tennis team.

He has worked for the Tennessee Department of Transportation as a transportation manager since 1975.

Tyree has been married to his wife, Susan, for more than 30 years. She is an elementary teacher in Williamson County and a graduate of Lipscomb University. The couple resides in Brentwood and has two grown daughters, Tracy and Allison. They attend Concord Road Church of Christ where Ben is a deacon.

 

Mike Pruitt returns for his second season alongside Ben Tyree, after helping Tyree guide the Trojans to the final eight of the NAIA Championships.  

Pruitt graduated from John Overton High School in Nashville and attended Nashville State Tech.

He is the owner of Commercial Truck and Equipment Sales, a Nashville-based company specializing in the manufacture, sales, service, and repair of all types of commercial vehicles and trucks.

He formed the Nashville Cruisers Softball Club, which has become one of the most successful and competitive teams in the Eastern United States. He guided the club to the ASA 16A 2007 National Championship and has six ASA A State Championships and three ASA A State Runner- Up titles. Coach Pruitt has also served as an assistant coach to several area high schools.

Pruitt lives in Mt. Juliet, Tenn. and has three daughters-Brittany, Courtney, and Bethany.

 

Natalee Weissinger begins her first season as a graduate assistant with the Trevecca women's softball program.

Weissinger is a 2011 graduate of Southern Illinois University with a degree in Women's Studies. She started 106 games during her two-year stint in Carbondale, earning Missouri Valley Conference All-Tournament honors as a senior for a team that went 36-17. She finished her Saluki career a perfect 19-for-19 in stolen base attempts. Weissinger began her college career at the University of Tennessee, making one start among her 80 appearances during her two years in Knoxville before transferring to SIU.

The Madison, Tenn., native was an EA Sports All-American and the Tennessean's Gatorade Player of the Year in 2006 as a senior at Goodpasture Christian School. She was also named to the Tennessee Sports Writers Association (TSWA) All-State teams in 2005 and 2006, and was an integral part of Cougar teams that won four consecutive TSSAA State Championships and posted an overall record of 169-20-1. Weissinger was a three-sport athlete at Goodpasture, also playing volleyball and basketball.