LIBERAL, Kan. – Seward County Community College Associate Vice President of Athletics Cody Cole has announced the hiring of Kimber Cortemelia as the ninth head coach in the history of the Seward softball program.
“I’m beyond grateful and excited for the opportunity to be named the head coach at Seward,” Cortemelia said. “I want to thank Cody Cole for believing in me and my vision for this program. I look forward to working with our softball student-athletes to develop their skills, character, and leadership abilities, and to building a program that values hard work, discipline, and sportsmanship. The buy in from everyone supporting this athletic department is special and it’s great knowing it starts from Brad Bennett (SCCC President) and goes all the way down. I’m excited to continue building on the foundation laid before me and to get to know the people of Liberal.”
Cortemelia (pronounced Cort-uh-meal-ia) will join Seward after two seasons as an assistant coach at Butler Community College in El Dorado, Kansas. While at Butler, she helped the Grizzlies to two Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference (KJCCC) regular season championships as well as a NJCAA Region 6 Tournament Championship and bid to the NJCAA Division 1 World Series in 2025.
“We are excited to have Kimber joining us as our next Head Softball Coach,” said Cole. “Coach Cortemelia will bring continued energy and a wealth of game knowledge to our program. She has been successful both as an assistant coach and as a student-athlete at both the NJCAA and NCAA Division 1 levels. We are looking forward to see how she impacts this program.”
Cortemelia’s coaching career began in 2023 as an assistant at Butler while also managing a private softball lesson business, helping train over 30 young softball players as well as two separate travel ball teams around the Butler County area.
Cortemelia oversaw the Grizzly infield as well as helping with travel and spending time on the road recruiting.
The Grizzly defense fielded at a .960 clip in 2025 which ranked 14th best across NJCAA Division 1. She helped seven different infielders to All-Jayhawk Conference honors across her two seasons and saw multiple players become two-time All-Conference players. Cortemelia also helped Butler produce an NJCAA All-American in 2024. Across her two seasons with Butler as an assistant, the Grizzlies finished 89-19 and 57-7 in conference games.
“I want to thank Morgan Bohanan and the people at Butler for giving me the opportunity to start my coaching career at such a great place,” said Cortemelia. “All my previous coaches and mentors I’ve met along the way have been a great resource for me over the last couple of years. I wouldn’t be where I am today without my support system behind me.”
A former NJCAA All-American infielder, Cortemelia holds extensive playing experience at both the NJCAA and NCAA D1 levels.
Cortemelia signed with the University of Louisiana at Lafayette out of high school under then head coach Michael Lotief. She redshirted in her lone season with the Ragin’ Cajuns in 2018 following a mid-year coaching change before transferring to Blinn College.
Cortemelia played one season for the Blinn Buccaneers (NJCAA D1) under head coach Rick Church in 2019. She was named the 2019 Region XIV South Player of the Year, a 2019 NJCAA D1 third team All-American as well as a NFCA D1 All-Region Midwest second team player. She led the Buccaneers with a .422 batting average, 73 hits, 16 doubles and a .490 on-base percentage. Cortemelia and the Buccaneers finished with a program-record 23-1 conference record and won the Region XIV South Division Championship.
Following the season at Blinn, Cortemelia transferred to the University of Texas at Arlington (NCAA D1) where she played four seasons (2020-23), appearing in 104 games making 94 starts. As a true utility swiss-army knife, Cortemelia spent time at first, second, third and shortstop, as well as playing in the outfield with the Mavericks. Across her career she tallied 72 hits, 52 RBI, 11 home runs and held a .357 on-base percentage while fielding .955. She was named Sun Belt Conference Player of the Week during the 2020 season and her seven RBI’s in a win over UTSA during the 2020 season is tied for second most in program history.
A native of Lake Jackson, Texas, Cortemelia graduated with a bachelor’s degree in kinesiology from the University of Texas at Arlington in 2021. She received a Master of Science degree in policy and leadership studies from UTA in 2023.
ABOUT SEWARD COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE SOFTBALL
Seward County softball finished 18-32 during the 2025 season, with a 10-22 record in the KJCCC placing 7th out of 9 schools in the regular season conference standings. The Saints have won four Region 6 Championships (2005, 06, 09, 10), three Jayhawk West Conference championships (2005, 09, 10) and made two NJCAA World Series appearances (2009, 10) in the history of the program. The programs first season was in 1999.