Kayla Hatting

Kayla Hatting is in her eighth season as the head softball coach at St. Olaf in 2023-24 after being named to the position on June 10, 2016.

Through six seasons, Hatting has led the Oles to a record of 154-91 (.629), including a 95-36 (.725) mark in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC). In 2021, St. Olaf won its first MIAC regular season championship since 1996 and made its first appearance in the NCAA Tournament since the same year before eventually finishing as the runner-up at the Waverly Regional. Hatting was named the 2021 MIAC Coach of the Year after leading the Oles to the historic season.

The Oles have appeared in the MIAC Playoffs in each of the last five seasons the tournament has been held and were one of the final two teams vying for the conference championship in both 2021 and 2022. St. Olaf has won at least 21 games in each of its six full seasons under Hatting after not having had a winning season since 1998 prior to Hatting's arrival on the Hill.

In her time at St. Olaf, Hatting has coached 20 All-MIAC selections, eight Honorable Mention All-MIAC honorees, 12 NFCA All-Region performers, and three NFCA All-Americans. The program also produced seven College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District honorees and its first CSC Academic All-American under Hatting's leadership.

St. Olaf earned its first national ranking from the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) at the end of the 2020 season and was ranked in the NFCA Division III Top 25 on 10 occasions during 2021. The Oles peaked at a program-best ranking of No. 13 on March 10, 2021.

Prior to coming to St. Olaf, Hatting spent the previous two seasons as a graduate assistant at NCAA Division II Augustana University in Sioux Falls, S.D. There, she coached the program's catchers and outfielders, helping the Vikings to a NCAA Super Regional appearance in 2015, as Augustana posted a 53-11 record, including a 28-2 mark in league play. In 2016, Augustana was 35-19 and 21-8 in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC).

Hatting was a two-time captain at Luther where she transitioned from a shortstop in high school to an all-region catcher for the Norse, who reached the NCAA Tournament in each of her four seasons. She earned four letters as Luther won three regular season and four postseason Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (now American Rivers Conference) championships.

A native of LeMars, Iowa, Hatting served as an assistant softball coach for Gehlen Catholic School from 2011-14.