OXFORD, Ala. - It's been a season of personal milestones for Arizona Western head softball coach Joel Prickett. First, he became the first head coach in program history to guide the Lady Matadors to back-to-back NJCAA DI Softball World Series appearances in his first two seasons. Second, he became the first head coach since Pam Stone in 2001 to win two or more games at the Softball World Series event. With Arizona Western's 4-2 win over Volunteer State on Tuesday, May 27th, it also notched another milestone on Prickett's coaching belt, win number 800 in his collegiate coaching career. 

"Such a neat story," Prickett said. "It's a neat place for it to happen here at the Softball World Series. You do anything right long enough you're gonna accumulate some wins. If not, you won't be doing it very long."

Prickett began his softball coaching journey in 2002 at El Paso Community College, increasing the Tejanas' win total in all three seasons. Prickett says growing up, softball was always a part of his family. 

"My two older sisters played, and my dad was president of the softball association," Prickett said. "My uncle coached the big travel team and I just followed them around like little brothers do. I wasn't real athletic in the baseball world. I played a little football, went off to college and came back home and started coaching junior college football. They asked me if I wanted to help the softball in the spring, so I did, and next thing you know, I turned it into a career."

Prickett says he realized at a young age that he could potentially make a name for himself coaching softball rather than football. 

"I had an opportunity to stay in football but chose to focus on softball," Prickett says. "It sounds arrogant, but I knew I could outwork most of the softball coaches back then. That's kind of always been my motto is try to outwork the opponent. I just saw a little easier path to head coaching and knew I could outwork people." 

That hard work paid off after three years in El Paso, Prickett took over at Odessa College, leading the Wranglers to back-to-back national tournament appearances three times, winning three or more games at the national tournament twice, going 3-2 in his final appearance at the national tournament with Odessa in 2014. In 12 seasons, Prickett won 513 games, making him the winningest coach in Odessa Wranglers Softball program history. The Wrangler's best finish at the national tournament under Prickett came in 2005, finishing in third place. After his time in Odessa, Prickett returned to his hometown of Cisco, Texas and spent seven years at Cisco College where he picked up his 700th career win during the 2023 season. Prickett entered this season, his second season at Arizona Western, with 760 career wins. 

When Arizona Western Head Softball Coach Nikki Bethurum announced her retirement from coaching after the 2024 season, Athletic Director Jerry Smith had Joel Prickett high on his list to be his next head coach. 

"He had an awesome record," Smith said. "He's had a lot of opportunities at the national tournament, and he seemed like he'd be a good fit to lead our team forward." 

Smith points to how well Prickett recruits, especially over the phone, in landing top talent to Arizona Western College.

"It's hard to navigate and figure that stuff out," Smith said. "We looked at his record and what he had to say on how he wanted to build a program. He had great success at Odessa but didn't have the resources at Cisco. We gave him the resources at Arizona Western and look what he's done with them. If you have great resources and the team, you can do great things with them and he has. It's been a great fit."

Arizona Western's offensive and pitching leaders this year were hand-picked by Prickett. Sophomore Analy Trejo, who leads the Lady Matadors in almost every offensive category, initially joined Prickett at Cisco College but says it was a no-brainer to follow him to Yuma before her freshman year began. 

"I followed him because he's the one that gave me a chance, I love you Papa P." Trejo said. "Why would I turn my back on the coach that believed in me and my abilities? He is a great guy. He finds ways to teach life through softball, and I admire that a lot, 'cause one day this game is gonna end, and he makes us know that, and he makes us good women, not just good players. I like that he's a little tough, but he also knows when you're having a bad day, he's aware of all that stuff, but he still has high expectations for us. And I really like that. He holds us to a high standard."

Another player who followed Prickett from Cisco College is sophmore second baseman Alissa Pinon. 

"I love that guy," Pinon said. "My older sister played for him, and she enjoyed his coaching and his style. I felt comfortable enough to trust her and felt like it was the best decision and easiest decision I've ever made. He's a coach that allows you to be yourself on and off the field, and he doesn't dim your light, he just shines it a little bit more, doesn't change you as a player, really, just fixes things that he could fix, and it's up to you to be coachable."

In the circle, All-American pitcher Jessica Smith, who last year played for Crowder College, also came to Arizona Western because of Prickett. 

"He reached out to me to actually ask about talent from Australia," Smith said. "When I made the decision to transfer, I reached out to him. I like having a direct coach. I felt very honored to be in the circle when he got his 800th win, that was so fun. I'm just very proud for him and proud that we as a team could do it for him."

Arizona Western finished the NJCAA DI Softball World Series 2-2, the first time the program has won multiple games on the national stage since 2001. Prickett also became the first head coach in program history to lead the program to back-to-back Softball World Series appearances in his first two seasons.

"Coach Prickett is a great coach," Jerry Smith said. "He alwys didn't have the best resources to work with." 

The resources and the administration were a big reason Prickett made the move to Arizona Western College.

"It's just a good spot," Prickett said. "Arizona Western equips you to win and give you that opportunity financially with scholarships and it's a beautiful campus. It's hard to beat some of our dorms and beat our field and it's just a great spot. I mean you still got to get the right kids but it's been a good move for sure."