WAYNESBURG (June 18) – Waynesburg University announced the hiring of Lou Giachetti as its new head softball coach on Wednesday, according to Director of Athletics Rudy Marisa. Giachetti inherits a team that reached the 2008 Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) Tournament championship game as a fourth seed.

“Coaching at the college level was something I've wanted to try,” said Giachetti. “I see the talent on the roster and it's an intriguing opportunity to coach some of the players I coached in high school and coached against.”

Giachetti comes to the Yellow Jackets after an 11-year stint as an assistant and head coach at nearby Waynesburg Central High School. He guided the Raiders to four section championships in the last seven years, 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. A key member of the WPIAL championship team for Waynesburg Central was pitcher Autumn Minor (Waynesburg, Pa./Waynesburg Central), who enters her senior season for the Yellow Jackets in the 2009 season.

“We have hired a man with proven success,” said Marisa. “We have those same hopes as he joins our coaching staff this upcoming season.”

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 in 1977.

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.