ATHENS, W.Va. – The Concord University Athletic Department has announced the return of the most successful coach in CU softball history to the dugout for the 2026 season as Alisa Tasler has been selected to follow her former player Alyssa Morris as the program's new head coach.
Tasler previously guided the Concord softball program from 2012-21 where she won 52 percent of her games (247-228). She led the Mountain Lions to five 30-win seasons, including four straight from 2014-17. Additionally, Tasler is the only CU softball coach to manage the Mountain Lions in the NCAA Tournament as Concord made the NCAA Division II Tournament for the first time in 2015 and then again in 2019.
"I am very excited to be back at Concord University, a place I consider home, back to an institution that actually cares about their coaching staff and wants every single sport to succeed on and off the field," Tasler said. "I'm looking forward to meeting the team and getting started this fall to continue building the team that Coach Morris put together."
After nearly 250 wins in her first stint in Athens, Tasler coached at Division I Radford from 2022-24.
During her 10-year tenure at Concord, the Newcastle, Oklahoma native coached 19 players to all-conference honors that included seven all-region selections. And Tasler has also coached the only two All-Americans in program history: Morris (2015) and Jenna Witt (2018).
Under Tasler's watch, Witt was the Mountain East Conference Player of the Year in 2019 while Laura Thompson was the MEC Freshman of the Year.
In the Concord record books, the first eight players on the all-time hits list played for Tasler while Concord's strikeout queen,
Cartney Schoolcraft (284), and the program's win leader, Allie Reid (41), were in the circle during Tasler's time in the dugout at CU.
"We are excited to welcome back Coach Tasler to the Mountain Lion Family," co-Athletic Director
Luke Duffy said. "Her successes at Concord speaks for itself. We know she will to add her already winning resumé. We're looking forward to the spring and seeing how she can continue to elevate Concord softball."
Tasler inherited a program at Concord in 2012 that was just three years removed from a 1-32 season. By her third year in the third base coaches' box, the Mountain Lions were a 30-win team (31-23), and in 2015 Concord won a then-program record 34 games and tallied the program's first NCAA Tournament win, a 3-1 victory over West Chester. Morris smashed 15 home runs and hit .393 while 2025 Concord Hall of Fame inductee Lauren Lewis hit 12 home runs. Reid and Lacey McDougall won a combined 25 games in the circle as both sported an ERA of 2.1 or lower.
The 2019 squad, perhaps Tasler's best team, set the program record for wins (38). Witt, Thompson and Kylie Kent led the offense as all three hit at least .370. Witt had 27 extra-base hits and batted .409. Schoolcraft won 18 games and struck out 165 batters in 151 innings. The 2019 Mountain Lions came within one game of winning the program's first MEC Tournament.
"I want to thank our co-Athletic Directors
Luke Duffy and
Tesla Southcott as well as the new president Dr. Bethany Meighen for this opportunity," Tasler said. "I know there will be a lot of changes coming in the near future and I'm excited to be apart of them."
In Tasler's return for 2026, Concord is slated to bring back 76 percent of its offense from one of the MEC's top-five offenses. And in the circle, all 338 innings from last year's team is expected back.
A formal press conference for Coach Tasler is set for August 19 at 11:00 a.m. inside the Carter Center.
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