The Florida softball team has just lost one of its most important pieces on the team.
Assistant coach Kenny Gajewski has accepted the head coaching job at Oklahoma State after three seasons with the Gators.
Gajewski came to Florida after he was the director of baseball operations at Tennessee from 2011-12 and was also a teammate of coach Tim Walton at the University of Oklahoma. Both were members of the 1994 national championship baseball team.
Walton brought Gajewski to Gainesville three years ago to help the team’s fundamentals and defense. Gajewski had an instant impact on the team as Florida posted then the highest fielding percentage in the program’s history in his first season (.979).
The Gators would post a .978 fielding percentage in 2014 en route to their first national title.
In 2015, UF would post the highest fielding percentage in school history (.981) as the Gators won back-to-back national titles.
“I really can’t wait to get started,” Gajewski said in a release. “We are all aware of the history and tradition of Oklahoma State softball and that certainly played a part in my initial interest. After visiting (the) campus and spending time with the people at Oklahoma State, I realized it was a better situation that I had even imagined.
“It’s a part of the country that is obviously very important to my family. It’s a destination job for us.”
Walton couldn’t say enough about the impact Gajewski had on the team during this three seasons as an assistant coach.
“Really excited for Kenny and his whole family,” Walton said in a release. “This is a great opportunity for him to make softball his life. He is full of passion, energy and truly a great person.
“Oklahoma State is getting a great coach. He really helped us in the process of developing our fundamentals and taking our game to another level. I’m genuinely excited for him and appreciate all he did for us during his time at Florida.”
Follow Luis Torres on Twitter @LFTorresIII
