Meet your coaches
Nicole May
Nicole is the only 4-time National Champion pitcher in NCAA history — a record she set at the University of Oklahoma. She started coaching at 16 and brings something most coaches can't teach: what it actually takes mentally to perform at the highest level, year after year, on the biggest stage in college softball. Nicole specializes in the mental game and in-game strategy — the pre-pitch routine, situational awareness, and the mindset that separates good pitchers from ones who dominate under pressure.
Coaching Experience: 6 Years
Favorite Pitch: Change-up
College team: Oklahoma Sooners
Walkout song: Lord Pretty Flacko Jodye 2 - A$AP Rocky
Kristina Thorson, CSCS
Kristina has been coaching pitchers full-time since 2006 — and every single one of her athletes who wanted to play in college has. A 2018 Cal Hall of Famer, 3x NCAA All-American, and PAC-10 Pitcher of the Year, she also holds the NSCA Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist credential — the same standard required to train professional and collegiate athletes. Her athletes have gone on to become All-Americans, NFCA award winners, and national champions, including the only 4x National Champion pitcher in NCAA history.
Coaching Experience: 25+ Years
Favorite Pitch: Riseball
College team: California Golden Bears
Walkout song: Unbroken - Killswitch Engage
Kristina has been coaching pitchers full-time since 2006 — and every single one of her athletes who wanted to play in college has. A 2018 Cal Hall of Famer, 3x NCAA All-American, and PAC-10 Pitcher of the Year, she also holds the NSCA Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist credential — the same standard required to train professional and collegiate athletes. Her athletes have gone on to become All-Americans, NFCA award winners, and national champions, including the only 4x National Champion pitcher in NCAA history.
Kristina Thorson - homepage bio
Nicole is the only 4-time National Champion pitcher in NCAA history — a record she set at the University of Oklahoma. She started coaching at 16 and brings something most coaches can't teach: what it actually takes mentally to perform at the highest level, year after year, on the biggest stage in college softball. Nicole specializes in the mental game and in-game strategy — the pre-pitch routine, situational awareness, and the mindset that separates good pitchers from ones who dominate under pressure.
Nicole May - homepage bio
Membership page bios
Nicole May— Champion Strategist & Mental Performance Coach
Nicole is the only pitcher in NCAA history to win four national championships. She did it at the University of Oklahoma — one of the most competitive programs in the country — and she did it by mastering not just her mechanics, but her mindset.
She began her coaching career at 16, working with youth pitchers in Pleasanton, CA. Trained by Kristina Thorson from age 13, and shaped by OU's Coach Rocha — widely regarded as one of the best collegiate pitching coaches in the country — Nicole brings a rare combination of elite technique and championship-level mental strategy that most coaches simply haven't experienced firsthand.
Nicole also believes deeply that athletes are people first. Her coaching reflects that: she doesn't just develop pitchers, she develops confident, resilient boss ladies who are prepared for the pressure of the circle and everything beyond it.
Kristina Thorson, CSCS — Head Coach & Strength Director
Kristina started coaching at 15 years old and has been doing it full-time ever since — that's 25 years of developing pitchers from youth ball to the collegiate level. In that time, every athlete she's coached who wanted to play in college has found a roster spot. Not most of them. Every one.
She's not just a pitching coach. As a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist through the NSCA — the gold-standard credential required to train professional and Division I athletes, which she's held for over 13 years — Kristina understands how the whole body works together to generate velocity, prevent injury, and stay durable across a long season. That's what separates the Pitcher Strong system from a YouTube workout.
Her own playing career backs it all up. A 2018 Cal Hall of Famer, 3x NCAA All-American, PAC-10 Pitcher of the Year, and 2007 NPF Rookie of the Year, Kristina finished her collegiate career with a sub-1.00 ERA, 100+ wins, and 1,000+ strikeouts. She later served as a pitching coach at the University of California, Berkeley.
Her athletes have gone on to earn All-Conference honors, All-American selections, NFCA awards, and national championships — including coaching Nicole May to become the only 4x National Champion pitcher in NCAA history.