Oberlin College Athletics

Julie Pratt enters her fourth season as head softball coach at Oberlin College in 2025-26.

In her first season at the helm of the program, Pratt helped guide the Crimson and Gold to establish a school record with 112 stolen bases. Under Pratt’s direction, the Yeowomen have produced four All-North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) recipients, 21 NCAC All-Academic honorees, 12 College Sports Communications selections, 27 National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) scholar athletes, and two NFCA Academic teams. 

Pratt brought 26 years of collegiate coaching experience before coming to Oberlin, most recently serving as the assistant coach at Case Western Reserve University for three years. In 2022, Pratt helped guide the Spartans into the NCAA Super Regionals, finishing the season with a 30-12 record and NFCA ranking of 13th in the country. In two full seasons of competition (2021-22), the Spartans won 57 games with Pratt on staff en route to earning University Athletic Association (UAA) and NFCA Region VII Coaching Staff of the Year honors in 2022. 

Prior to her stint at CWRU, Pratt spent 13 seasons as the associate head coach at University of Akron. From 1999-2005, Pratt coached at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI), spending the final six seasons as head coach. She became just one of two coaches in program history to surpass 100-career wins, which included a 20-win season in 2005 and Mid-Continent Conference Coach of the Year honors. 

Pratt's coaching career began at Wright State, where she was on staff from 1996-98. Pratt aided in the Raiders setting a then-school-record total of 29 wins in the 1997 season. 

Prior to graduating from the University of Akron in 1996 with a degree in sociology and corrections, Pratt was a four-year letterwinner for the Zips, earning All-Mid-American Conference honors in 1994. Pratt holds the doubles record and is in the top ten in the record books for hits, RBIs, and batting average. She was inducted into the University's Varsity 'A' Hall of Fame in 2013.