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Assistant Coaches
2022 SOUTHEAST MISSOURI SOFTBALL GUIDE
ASSISTANT COACH KRISTEN JONES
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The Jones File
Experience:
Seventh Year at SEMO
Hometown: Plant City, Fla.
Birthdate:
September 10, 1989
Alma Mater:
Augusta State, 2012
Education:
B.S. Kinesiology (Augusta State) Master’s (Augusta State)
Date Hired:
October 20, 2015
Playing Experience:
Augusta State, 2009-12
Coaching Experience:
Southeast Missouri, Asst. Coach, 2016-pr. The 2022 campaign marks the seventh season at Southeast Missouri for assistant coach Kristen Jones. Jones works primarily with the catchers and handles the team’s travel logistics, as well as overseeing the team’s academics, compliance and recruiting efforts.
The 2019 National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Division I Mideast Regional Coaching Staff of the Year, which has posted 144 wins over the last five years, led the Redhawks to a program record 46 wins in 2019. That season marked just the second 40-win season in program history and capped the most successful fouryear stint since the 1998-2001 teams won a combined 125 games over a four-year stretch.
In 2018, catcher Abby Tillotson earned AllOVC honors under Jones’ tutelage. Tillotson batted .287 with seven homers and 24 runs scored. In the field, Tillotson recorded 157 putouts and eight assists with no errors.
The Redhawks eclipsed the 30-win mark for the first time in seven seasons in 2018, collecting the most wins since the 1998 team won 38 games and improving their win total by 10. SEMO used 15 OVC wins to advance to the OVC Tournament for the first time since 2015.
In Jones’ second season (2017), the Redhawks won 23 games, showing a +7 improvement in wins from the previous season after helping SEMO to a 16-33 record, including a 10-17 mark in OVC play in her first season with head coach Mark Redburn and the Redhawks.
Prior to coming to Cape Girardeau, Jones worked as the Coordinator of New Media and Championships for the Peach Belt Conference located in Augusta, Georgia.
Jones first joined the Peach Belt Conference as a New Media & Programming Intern, a position she held from January 2012-June 2014. She then moved to full-time status in July 2014.
She received her bachelor’s degree in kinesiology at Augusta State University in 2012 and then earned her master’s degree in 2014.
Jones enjoyed a successful playing career at Augusta State, garnering National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Second-Team All America and NFCA & Daktronics First Team All-South Region honors in 2011. In addition, Jones was a two-time First-Team All Peach Belt Conference selection (2010, 2011).
2022 SOUTHEAST MISSOURI SOFTBALL GUIDE
ASSISTANT COACH MATTHEW GUEMMER
The Guemmer File
Experience:
Third Year at SEMO
Hometown: De Soto, Mo.
Birthdate: May 4, 1989
Alma Mater: Missouri, 2013
Date Hired:
September 18, 2019
Coaching Experience:
Southeast Missouri, Asst. Coach, 2020-pr. M atthew Guemmer is in his third year as an assistant coach at Southeast Missouri.
A native of De Soto, Missouri, Guemmer comes to SEMO from Virginia Tech, where he served as a volunteer assistant coach during the 2019 season.
Guemmer, who worked primarily with the outfielders and was the camp director of the Pete D’Amour softball camps, was instrumental in Virginia Tech winning an ACC regular-season title and Coastal Division crown. It was Tech’s first-ever time winning the Coastal and just its second time being regular-season champs.
His outfield unit led the charge at the plate for Tech, with all three players hitting over .330 and collecting more than 50 hits. Leading the crew was left fielder Emma Strouth, who broke two school records with 68 RBI and 50 runs scored, while right fielder Al Velazquez tied Strouth with a schoolrecord 50 runs scored herself.
Center fielder Darby Trull led the team with a .406 batting average, the fourth highest in the ACC. Trull and Strouth would earn two major awards together, claiming AllAmerica honors from Softball America and First-Team NFCA All-Region (Mid-Atlantic). Strouth also picked up First-Team All-ACC honors.
Before his time at Virginia Tech, Guemmer was the head coach of the girls’ softball team at De Soto High School. Guemmer led the Dragons to a MSHSAA 3A state championship and a 25-4 record in his first year on the job. The team owned a .351 batting average and 1.41 ERA, respectively, as well.
Prior to the stint at his alma mater, Guemmer worked as an assistant coach at Mineral Area in Park Hills, Missouri, a two-year junior college, for four years. He helped mold four NJCAA All-Americans and four NJCAA Academic All-Americans. The Cardinals earned two trips to the NJCAA World Series Qualifier in 2009 and 2011.
Guemmer graduated from the University of Missouri in 2013 and while in Columbia served as a student manager for two years.
