Karla Powell

The University of Maryland Eastern Shore named Karla Powell as the head coach ahead of the 2019 season.

Powell was an assistant coach at five different institutions at a variety of levels since her playing days ended at The University of Wisconsin in 2012. She comes to Eastern Shore from the staff at George Mason University a post she had held for only a few months.

Prior to that, she was at Florida Southwestern State College of the NJCAA, where she was part of the coaching staff for the school’s first three seasons of play from 2015-18. There she was responsible for the offense for a team that went 172-28 and won three Suncoast Conference Championships. The teams garnered ninth (2016), third (2017) and fifth (2018) place finishes at NJCAA National Tournament.

“Starting as a player and through my coaching career to this point, I have always enjoyed seeing a program grow and create a strong culture, so helping build programs is in my blood and I think we can do something special here,” Powell said.

Prior to being at FSW State College, she was an assistant at St. Johns River State College in Palatka, Florida for one season where she was also responsible for the offense along with the defense and coaching third base. The team improved from 17-31 the previous season to 32-22 — still a program best. The squad also posted significant improvement in batting average (+51 points), runs scored (+86) and fielding percentage. The team reached the state tournament for the first time in five years.

Powell also served as a volunteer assistant at George Washington University during her first season out of college in 2013-14 and as student assistant after her time as a player at Wisconsin.

As an offensive coach she likes her team to develop the ability to both hit for power and run the bases. At Florida Southwestern, the team led the nation in stolen bases in 2016 with 274 and in 2017 they ranked second with 282.

Despite having multiple shoulder surgeries as a player, Powell played four seasons at the University of Wisconsin. She was a first baseman and designated hitter that was named a first team All-Big Ten performer in 2011 when she hit .313 with nine home runs, 10 doubles 31 RBI and 19 runs score. She was a third team All-Big Ten selection in 2012 and finished her career with a .286 average, 51 runs scored, 15 home runs, 26 doubles and 71 RBI in 190 games.

The Ashburn, VA native graduated from Wisconsin in 2013 with a degree in sociology.