Rowan College honors coach Steve DePasquale before retirement after 32 years
Steve DePasquale left Rowan College of South Jersey with 923 wins, two national titles and 32 All-Americans, capping a 32-year run that reshaped Cumberland County softball.
Steve DePasquale built Rowan College of South Jersey softball into a program measured in championships, not just seasons. By the time the college honored him with a special on-field presentation in April before the Roadrunners’ final home game of the regular season, his record stood at 923-417-3, with two Division III national titles, eight region championships and 32 All-Americans attached to his name.
His retirement after the 2026 season closes a run that began in December 1995, when the team was still a club program and DePasquale was recruiting players in a College Center hallway with the late assistant coach Ted Marshall. RCSJ has said he was the only head coach in the program’s history, and the college’s athletics bio said he had reached 760 wins in his first 25 seasons. The numbers show more than longevity. They show how one coach can become the spine of a college team, setting the standard for every player who followed.
That mattered in Cumberland County because RCSJ is one of the region’s major higher-education institutions, and the softball program became part of its athletic identity. DePasquale’s departure means the Roadrunners will have to protect not just a winning record but also the recruiting network, continuity and expectations he established over three decades. For student-athletes, his presence meant a stable hand at a small-college program where roster turnover and local relationships can shape everything from practice habits to postseason runs.
The retirement tribute also came during a successful season. Region XIX reported on May 11, 2026, that RCSJ-Gloucester won the 2026 Region XIX Division III Championship, a backdrop that underscored how the program kept adding to its resume even as its longtime coach prepared to step aside. The ceremony itself drew family, team members, colleagues and Gloucester County politicians, signaling that DePasquale’s influence reached beyond the dugout into the civic life of the campus and the surrounding South Jersey sports community.
His broader coaching footprint extended well past softball. DePasquale founded the South Jersey Rage Youth Travel Softball Organization and spent nine years as an assistant coach with the Glassboro Bulldogs football program. For Cumberland County and the wider South Jersey area, his exit marks the end of a coaching era built on wins, player development and a program identity that will be hard to replace.
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