MELBOURNE, Fla. — Florida Tech Softball Head Coach Val Silvestrini announced the hiring of Danielle Cassara as the program's new assistant coach. Cassara, a decorated former collegiate standout with extensive coaching and international development experience, will officially begin her role on August 3, 2026.
"I'm excited to welcome Danielle as an experienced assistant coach to our program," said Silvestrini. "Great teams are built by great people, and bringing someone with a proven track record, strong softball knowledge, and a passion for developing scholar-athletes will make our team better every single day."
Cassara comes to Melbourne following her role as pitching coach at Florida International University, where she joined the staff in the fall of 2024. Cassara's first college coaching experience came in 2003-04 with her Alma mater. In subsequent years, Cassara coached in the Mid-Atlantic Region. After serving as an assistant at Moravian from 2012-15, Thacker spent 2015-16 as a pitching coach at Wilkes University, 2016-17 as the assistant coach at Shepherd University, 2017-18 as the assistant coach at Richard Bland College of William and Mary, and 2018-2024 as the pitching coach at Shippensburg University, with a brief stint at Louisburg College in 2024 before assisting with pitchers at Florida International University.
In addition to her collegiate coaching background, Cassara brings more than 15 years of private instruction experience. Her expertise in pitcher development has earned her opportunities on the international stage, including training the Dominican Republic National Team in 2003 and the Chinese Taipei Junior National Team in 2019. She has also worked with top player development groups including Creating Aces, Triple Crown Sports, and the Diane Lewis School of Softball.
Before stepping into coaching, Cassara established herself as one of the most dynamic dual-threat players in University of New Mexico history. A four-year letterwinner for the Lobos, she still ranks among the top-10 players in 16 single-season and 23 career categories across both pitching and hitting. In 1999, she pitched a perfect game, which was the program's first since 1981. A 10-time Conference Player or Pitcher of the Week and two-time First-Team All-Conference selection, Cassara recorded 51 career wins, 22 shutouts, and 348 strikeouts in the circle while batting .342 with 26 home runs and 143 RBI at the plate.
Following her collegiate career, Cassara played professionally in Forlì, Italy. Forli made the Championship Tournament, where Cassara earned the honors of MVP and Best Hitter. Other International play included a summer in Canada, where she competed against the Chinese, Canadian, Australian, and US National teams in the Canadian Cup Tournament. After graduating from UNM, Cassara played in the Colorado Semi-Pro League for two years, at one point shutting out the National Professional Fastpitch (NPF) All-Stars. Cassara competed in women's league fastpitch in the northeast from 2009-2017, defeating the Stratford Brakettes in 2017, the first time in program history for Lyons Spirit.
A native of Long Beach, California, Cassara was a stand-out prep athlete at R.A. Millikan High School, where she was a four-time All-Conference selection, a four-time All-City selection, a three-time All-Dream Team selection, Co-MVP, and named Female Athlete of the Year.
A native of Long Beach, CA, Danielle Cassara has been playing softball since the age of 6. At the age of 13, Cassara was invited to compete in Europe with a hand-selected team of All Stars. They ran clinics and played in several exhibition games in Belgium, Holland, Denmark, Madrid and Seville before participating as an official exhibit in the 1992 Expo World's Fair in Seville, Spain.
"I am deeply honored and excited to be named the pitching coach at Florida Tech. I want to thank Coach Silvestrini and Jamie Joss for entrusting me with this incredible opportunity," said Cassara. "I can't wait to contribute to the outstanding culture of coaches he has built here at FIT. Go Panthers!"
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