Hilderbrand returns to Perk to lead pitching staff
PERKINSTON — New Mississippi Gulf Coast head softball coach Izzy Werdann has made the first addition to her staff, adding a fellow Bulldog alum.
Kailey Hilderbrand returns to Perk, where she was on the 2018 team, and will serve as pitching coach.
"I just wanted the opportunity to come back here and leave it better than I found it," Hilderbrand said. "I don't feel like I really got to do that as a player, so I'm really excited to come back and make a positive impact for the girls and with Izzy."
Hilderbrand was injured early in her lone season with the Bulldogs, and she left after that freshman campaign to go to NCAA Division I Memphis. She appeared in 55 games over four seasons for the Tigers, finishing with a 4-5 record with one save. She started 10 games during her career, then stayed at Memphis as a graduate assistant for two seasons.
Last year, Hilderbrand was the pitching coach at Arkansas Tech, where the Golden Suns posted a 3.15 ERA, the fourth-best in the Great American Conference.
"She brings a very bubbly personality," Werdann said. "She brings knowledge about the game. She made the jump from junior college to Division I softball, which is what a lot of our kids are trying to do. That's the goal that they have, and I want people on my staff who can help guide these kids into what they need to go from here to there and be successful."
Hilderbrand was injured during her lone season at Gulf Coast in 2018, appearing in four games. She was a star at Hernando High School, going 11-5 with a 1.67 ERA and 129 strikeouts in 108.2 innings while batting .395. She played in the Mississippi Association of Coaches Class 4A/5A/6A Fast-Pitch All-Star Game and was named to the Clarion-Ledger All-State Team.
She has a bachelor's in professional and liberal studies and a master's in sports commerce.
Hilderbrand is ready to take all those lessons learned on the field and in the dugout and apply them at Perk.
"I really got to learn more about the game, growing my knowledge and figuring out who I am as a player and then as a coach," she said. "I've learned how I want to coach. We'll learn to be gritty, learn to be challenged. I got to learn about the nitty gritty stuff about how to approach batters and how to want the sequence to go to feed our defense."
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