Tommy Forrester

Tommy Forrester, a member of the College’s Class of 2004, coached the Emory & Henry softball team for nine years, winning a record 217 games and leading the team to three NCAA Division III Tournaments.

Tommy took over a team in the fall of 2013 that hadn’t had a winning season in seven years. In his first season in 2014, the Wasps showed an 11-game improvement for their first of seven 20-win seasons under his leadership.

The next year, the team finished third in the ODAC Tournament, increasing their win total to 26 for the then-third most wins in program history. In 2017, the Wasps set the program record for wins in a season at 35, and were one victory short of the conference championship. For their efforts, Emory & Henry made just their second trip to the NCAA Division III tournament in program history and first since 2003.

The Wasps made another trip the the ODAC Championship game in 2018 with another 30-win season but fell short of the league title and the NCAA playoffs. Emory & Henry returned to the national stage in 2019 after finishing second in the regular season standings. That performance earned the team an invitation to the elite NFCA Leadoff Classic in Tucson, Arizona in 2020. During that shortened season, the Wasps played just 17 games but six of them were against nationally-ranked opponents.

The 2021 season was a banner year for Tommy and Emory & Henry. The team finished with a program-record .763 winning percentage with a 29-9 record. The Wasps were ranked in the NFCA Top 25 for much of the season, including two weeks at number nine. After another second-place finish in the ODAC to eventual national champion Virginia Wesleyan, the Wasps made their third appearance in the NCAA Tournament in the span of four full seasons. The team went 3-2 in the Seguin, Texas Regional finishing second to eventual national runner-up Texas Lutheran and tied for ninth in the tournament.

Tommy’s student-athletes excelled both on and off the field including a First Team All-American, 30 All-ODAC players, 10 All-ODAC Tournament selections, seven All-Region players and countless academic honors.

Following the 2022 season, Tommy transitioned from softball coach to administrator, taking on the role of Director of Club Sports for two years. As an undergraduate, he was a four-year letterwinner in the infield for the Wasps’ baseball team and was named the Team MVP his senior season.

Forrester passed away on November 15, 2024, at the age of 43.