Lou Giachetti returns for his fifth year as the leader of the Waynesburg University softball program and will be looking to build upon last year's 18-18 overall record, which included a 7-11 mark in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC).
In 2010, Giachetti's players posted another .500 season (16-16) that included an 8-8 record in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) and a trip to the four-team conference postseason tournament.
In 2011, Giachetti saw his team's batting number jump up from their 2010 totals. The 2011 Jackets hit .284, way up from the .223 mark they posted the previous year. They also scored more runs (160 to 113) and blasted more homeruns (12 to 11).
This 2011 campaign also featured three first-team All-PAC picks in then seniors Amanda Baughman and Amber Pivik and sophomore Rachael Moon, the most for the program since before 2002.
One of the biggest highlights of his 2009 rookie season on the bench came when Giachetti saw his team post a seven-game winning streak, which is the longest such run of success for the program since before 2002.
Prior to coming to Waynesburg University, Giachetti served a 12-year stint as an assistant and head coach at nearby Waynesburg Central High School. He guided the Raiders to four section championships in his last seven years with the team, including a section title in 2008 when they posted a 12-4 overall record.
Under Giachetti, the Raiders won the Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League (WPIAL) in 2005 and advanced to the state playoffs in both 2005 and 2006.
Giachetti coached a traveling tournament softball team and in a summer recreational league around Waynesburg before serving as coach and president of the Dirt Dawgs Softball Organization since 2007.
A 1979 graduate of Waynesburg University, Giachetti was a two-year starter in center field for the Yellow Jacket baseball team in both 1978 and 1979. He also served as the leadoff hitter for former head coach Bill Hardisty during his two years with the program.
Giachetti graduated from the University with a degree in Mine Management after earning his associate’s degree from Penn State Fayette, the Eberly Campus in 1977. He is a 1975 graduate of Uniontown High School.
He resides in Waynesburg with his wife, Cathie, who is also a graduate of Waynesburg University. The couple has two grown daughters, Nikki Stephenson and Erin, both of whom played softball for their father. Erin is entering her fourth year as an assistant on her father's staff.
