Michell Vlahos enters her first year as Menlo College Head Softball Coach in 2012-13. Vlahos comes to the Oaks after a great deal of success at both the NCAA Division I level and the NAIA stage, most recently coming over from UC Riverside where she spent one year as assistant coach.
While at Riverside, Vlahos played an influential role as hitting coach in leading the Highlanders to the program's most wins in Division I history with 25, while the team's .281 batting average was also the highest mark of all-time. Prior to coming to Riverside, Vlahos helped propel NAIA Savannah College of Art and Design to greater heights as assistant/hitting coach. The Bees enjoyed two 30-win seasons, two Sun Conference titles, and two trips to the NAIA National Championship Tournament in Vlahos' three years with the program. SCAD also dominated the conference from an offensive standpoint, leading the pack in team batting average all three seasons with Vlahos as hitting coach.
Equally as impressive has been her capacity to develop character, strive for academic success, and promote outstanding morals throughout the course of competition. At SCAD, Vlahos was an NAIA Champions of Character Coach each and every year, in addition to playing a significant role in developing seven Daktronics NAIA scholar-athletes.
Vlahos is a graduate of Utah State University where she earned a degree in Psychology. Upon graduation, Vlahos spent two seasons (2006-08) as a graduate assistant of the Utah State Softball Program. She is currently acquiring her masters in psychology/school counseling from USU.
Amy Hillel joins the Menlo College Softball coaching staff after working in both Division I and Division II programs. Coach Hillel will be working with the infielders, hitting and will be addressing the mental side of the Lady Oaks game. Hillel graduated from Sacramento State with a degree in kinesiology during the fall of 2006. Hillel started at least 43 games all four years of her career, and made appearances at three different infield positions (second base, shortstop and third base). She started 181 of the 185 games she appeared, and ranks third in school history with 445 career assists. As a senior, Hillel posted career highs in batting average (.286), hits (40), doubles (5) and RBIs (15).
One of the slickest fielders in program history, she helped the Hornets to 30-plus win seasons during each of her final three years with the program. In fact, the team's winning percentage improved all four years of Hillel's career, punctuated by the 2005 squad's 30-23 record. During her final two seasons, despite making all of her starts at third base, she committed just 15 errors in 358 total chances (.958 fielding percentage). Hillel also won back-to-back Amateur Softball Association (ASA) national championships in 2007 and 2008. In 2008, as a member of the Nor Cal Heat, Hillel started all four games during the national tournament and played alongside former Hornet Jamie Schloredt.
Danial Mitchell enters his first year as assistant softball coach at Menlo College. He is the Oaks outfield coach and will work with hitting. Coach Mitchell is also an assistant football coach of Menlo College, serving as the Oaks quarterback coach. Mitchell started his coaching career at 18 years old as the QB Coach and Offensive Coordinator at Christian High School in San Diego, compiling a two-year record of 21-3. He started his collegiate athletic career playing baseball at San Diego Christian College for two years, before transferring to Willamette University to play quarterback under Menlo Head Football Coach, Mark Speckman. Mitchell graduated in 2012 with a bachelor's degree in Exercise Science from Willamette University, and is looking forward to achieving a master's degree in Sports Management or Education.
Mitchell developed his passion for coaching from his father and under his mentor Tom Martinez, long time College of San Mateo football coach and quarterback guru. Martinez is also well known for being Tom Brady's QB Coach, Quarterback of the New England Patriots. Coach Mitchell now heads Martinez's QB Camp alongside Menlo Atherton High School Head Coach, Sione Ta'ufo'ou in the off-season.
