Longtime coach Paul Bernardini has been named the new head softball coach at Tompkins Cortland Community College. He takes of the program for the 2025-26 academic year.

Bernardini has coached softball in the region for more than a decade, both at the high school and travel ball level. Prior to coaching, he was an all-star baseball player in high school and then starting playing fastpitch softball while in the Navy. He now counts more than 25 years of playing experience to complement his time as a coach.

"I'm very excited about this opportunity," said Bernardini. "I love working with athletes, and softball has been my life for more than a decade. There's nothing I'd rather be doing than coaching at the college level, working with my players to get them where they want to go as players and students."

The TC3 softball program has a history of success, with an NJCAA national championship and four NJAA Region 3 championships to its credit.  Bernardini is anxious to start work on returning the program to its past glory.

"I am an aggressive coach," he said. "I'm looking for players who like to run, steal bases, and get dirty. Academics should always be the first priority when recruiting athletes – the school has to make sense academically for a student to get to their final goal – but then it comes down to finding players who put in the effort to succeed."

"I can't wait to get the Panthers back on the diamond."