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<p><strong>By Wes Kerr</strong></p>
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<p>Seven years ago, Codee Yeske was a stellar infielder on an up-and-coming South Carolina softball team. Now, the former Gamecock is heading back to her home state to lead the USC Beaufort Sand Sharks.</p>
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<p>USCB announced Monday that Yeske has been hired as the softball program’s new head coach, becoming the fourth in the Sand Sharks’ history.</p>
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<p>“I couldn’t be more thrilled with this hire,” athletic director Quin Monahan said. “Coach Yeske thoroughly impressed me with her desire to compete and her confidence to lead our program to new heights. She is going to make an immediate and lasting impact on our student-athletes, as softball players certainly, but more importantly, as young women.”</p>
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<p>Yeske comes to the Lowcountry after an impressive three-year stint as an assistant coach at Division I program and Ohio Valley Conference member Austin Peay, specializing in the improvement of the team’s hitting and fielding. She led the Governors to a record of 71-50 during her tenure while helping the offense set single-season records in home runs, slugging percentage, hits, doubles, and on-base percentage in 2019.</p>
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<p>A Lexington, S.C., native, Yeske started her collegiate career at Presbyterian College before heading to Columbia in her sophomore year. During her three seasons at South Carolina, she helped the Gamecocks reach a pair of NCAA regionals while hitting .330 in her senior campaign. She then shined on the international level, earning a spot on the USA Baseball Women’s National Team and winning a gold medal at the 2015 Pan-American Qualifying Games.</p>
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<p>Prior to her time at Austin Peay, Yeske spent a year as an associate head coach for the Carolina Mojo 14U club team before taking an assistant coaching role at the University of North Carolina-Wilmington.</p>
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<p>Yeske holds a bachelor’s degree from South Carolina in hotel and restaurant management, and recently completed a master’s degree in leadership and organizational administration. She takes over a USCB program that is set to make the jump from the NAIA to the Division II Peach Belt Conference in the 2022-23 academic year.</p>
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<p>“I am honored and humbled to return home to South Carolina,” Yeske said. “There is a buzz around the university and athletic department that makes it an exciting time to be a Sand Shark. I’m looking forward to getting to know our student-athletes and cultivating a culture of excellence, while enhancing the student-athlete experience.”</p>
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