'I love that place': Patti Townsend reflects on nearly three decades with TCC softball

After over two decades, longtime Tallahassee Community College softball head coach Patti Townsend is entering a new chapter.

On April 7, she announced that she would resign at the season's end as the Eagles finished with a 22-20 record this year.

But Tallahassee will always remain a major factor for Townsend's development as she spent over half of her life in the city.

After an All-Big 10 career with the Michigan Wolverines softball team, Townsend notched her first assistant coaching opportunity with Florida State under Dr. JoAnne Graf in 1994.

"It kind of just happened," Townsend, 52, said. "Michelle Gardner got the assistant job at Florida State and called me and asked if I wanted to move to Florida and coach with her."

But Townsend only stayed at FSU for a year

The demand of being a NCAA Division I assistant coach was overwhelming to Townsend as she was still playing softball for the USA Team ― winning a gold medal at the 1995 Pan American Games in Parana, Argentina.

This led to the Allendale, Michigan native to head over to TCC and be an assistant under Maria Mendoza in 1996 before ultimately becoming the Eagles' head coach in 2003.

"I met up with (Mendoza) and it was a better fit for me with what I was doing at the time," Townsend said. "It gave me more time to follow my dreams as well and then once Maria decided to step down, I felt like I wasn't ready at the time and stayed under Lori Goodart for a year.

"The job came open again and I felt like it was the right time, Ever since then, I've been at TCC."

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Patti Townsend's love for junior college sparks 20 years of leading Tallahassee Community College softball

Townsend compiled a record of 506-487-1 in her 20 years as just only the third head coach in TCC softball history.

Her tenure at TCC included a FCSAA Championship (2014), three NJCAA Region 8B/FCSAA Gulf District Championships (2008, 2011, 2014), and a Panhandle Conference Championship.

Townsend has seen many eras of college softball. Her main objective was to adapt to the times in order to build a successful program.

"It took me a little while to adjust to being the head coach," she said. "Coaching is only 10 percent of softball — the rest of it is making sure kids are going to graduate and doing the right thing. It's a tough transition because everything is on your shoulders.

"(TCC softball alumna) Jennifer McKibben and Jennifer Whitley came in as my assistants and really made it easier for me to be a head coach. I've changed my coaching style over the years and it's always evolving. It's a game of adjustments."

Being a product of a major Division I softball program, Townsend never expected to spend nearly three decades at TCC.

But a grew an affinity with the culture and the grind that comes with junior college softball.

"I thought I would do this for a little while and then move on to Division I," Townsend said. "I knew what junior college was about. It gives you a different perspective and I fell in love with the junior college system and the world that it is. Rob Chaney and Brian Anweiler were amazing athletic directors and let me do my thing.

"Early on, they used to say the 'misfits' would go to junior college. You don't have a lot of those kids. The kids are very, very bright. They're physically way better than they were 20 years ago, but it's the mental piece that they have to develop.

"So, it was really one of those things where I wanted to help kids get seen, evolve, and move them on to the next level."

Patti Townsend grateful for 29 years in Tallahassee and excited to embark on a new beginning

Townsend is not sure what her next chapter entails.

For now, she's enjoying her Monticello farm alongside her husband, Jimmy and daughter, Ali.

"People have asked me to come coach, but I'm going to take a break for a little bit," Townsend said. "But I don't see me moving too far to do another coaching job.

"My husband and I have a lot of different hobbies we like to do like restore vehicles. We're thinking about being snowbirds and moving up to Michigan for awhile, but nothing is set in stone.

"We're pretty much set in our world right here."

From a newly-grad and star college athlete to a 20-year coaching veteran.

Townsend found a new family in the TCC Eagles and a new home in the Big Bend community.

"I want to thank Tallahassee Community College," Townsend said. "It's an amazing place to be and I love that place. I'll always be an Eagle ― that's for sure.

"I really like Tallahassee. It's a small big town where everybody knows everybody. They've always been super supportive. I just want to say thank you to everyone."

Gerald Thomas, III covers Florida A&M University Athletics for the Tallahassee Democrat. Contact him via email at gdthomas@gannett.com or on Twitter @3peatgee.

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This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: TCC Softball: Patti Townsend reflects on time with the Eagles