Bocock Adds Two to Elon Softball Staff

ELON, N.C. – Elon University head softball coach Kathy Bocock announced the additions of Jay Johnson as an assistant coach and Tatiana Alcala as a volunteer assistant coach to her staff today, Dec. 7.

Johnson joins the Phoenix staff after serving as the associate head softball coach at Grace College under head coach and wife Heather Johnson. At Grace, Johnson also served as the head JV coach and was responsible for the team’s strength and conditioning, hitting, individual skills improvement and working with the outfield.

At Grace, Johnson helped lead the Lady Lancer’s to the NCCAA World Series a year ago, its first 30-win season in nearly 21 years and consecutive trips to the national tournament for the first time in school history. He also mentored two NCCAA All-American honorees in first teamer Brook Shell and second teamer Clarissa Knight.

Prior to Grace, Johnson coached at Northwest High School in Canal Fulton, Ohio, where his primary responsibilities included instructing hitting, catching and outfield. He also served the strength and conditioning coach for Lenoir-Rhyne’s volleyball team also was an assistant coach at Montreat College.

Johnson was a four-year letterwinner and a two-time All-Conference performer for the baseball team at Montreat. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in business administration and marketing. He and his wife, Heather, have three children, Grace, Taft and Mack.

Alcala comes to Elon after a four-year playing career at UNCG (2011-15), helping the Spartans to 115 wins during that span. At UNCG, Alcala played in 209 games and started all but three of those contests at various positions. Last season, she set a new career-high with a .320 batting average to go with 41 hits, 19 runs scored, three doubles and three triples. She also earned All-Southern Conference second team honors in 2013. She graduated from UNCG with a bachelor’s degree in human development and family studies.

A native of Oxnard, Calif., Alcala was a four-time All-Pacific View League infielder for Pacifica High School, earning first-team honors twice and was inducted into the Ventura County Sports Hall of Fame as a senior. She also was Pacifica’s Ventura County Sports Hall of Fame Athlete of the Year and was named Pacifica’s Female Athlete of the Year, becoming the first softball player in school history to earn the award.

Alcala also competed for the Mexico National Team at the 2014 Softball World Cup IX where she competed against Canada, USA, Chinese Taipei, Japan, the Philippines and Venezuela.