BUTLER TWP — Dan Beebe was all set to settle back into his role as assistant softball coach at Butler County Community College when he received surprising news.

The Pioneers' head softball coach, Roni Mall, was retiring.

“It definitely caught me off guard,” Beebe said. “It was unexpected. Roni reached out to me and told me she was retiring.”

The school asked Beebe if he was interested in taking over the head coaching role and he jumped at the chance.

Beebe, 37, was officially hired Wednesday after serving one season at BC3 as an assistant.

It's another change in a whirlwind of them for Beebe over the past 18 months.

After spending three years as an assistant coach and six as a head coach of the Moniteau High School softball team, Beebe stepped down from that position in late June of 2016.

He wasn't without a job in softball for long as he latched on with the Pioneers shortly after.

“There's a lot that's been happening,” Beebe said. “I went from spending three years as an assistant and six years as a head coach at one place, to changing jobs three times in a year and a half.”

Beebe logged a 109-20 career record as the head softball coach at Moniteau in six season, leading the Warriors to the PIAA Class AA championship game in his final campaign in 2016.

In 2017, the BC3 softball team had the most successful season in school history, going 20-5 and winning its first Region XX championship.

Many of the players on that title team are gone, but a solid core returns, led by NJCAA Division III All-American Nikki Houk, Jessi Reed, Alexis Vogan and Lydia Roth.

Houk, a New Castle graduate, led all of the NJCAA in batting with a .627 average last season.

Reed, a Knoch graduate, was 13-0 with a 1.32 ERA as a pitcher and also hit .426.

Vogan batted .541 as a catcher.

“If you were going to build a team,” Beebe said, “you'd build it with an All-American and your pitcher and catcher.”

Beebe, though, realizes there's a lot of work to do to replace the talent the Pioneers have lost.

He said he plans to be active around Butler County to try to get the word out about the softball program and hopefully sell the advantages of playing for BC3.

“If I can get a few players who have maybe fallen through the cracks, I'd definitely do whatever I could to get them here and eventually to a four-year school if that's what they want,” Beebe said. “There's a lot of talented players in this area and I'm going to get my face out there. I'm really looking forward to it. It's challenging.

“This is where I want to be,” Beebe added. “I'm happy to be here and I feel like I'm wanted here.”