After the two varsity softball coaches at Lampeter-Strasburg High School (LSHS) resigned following the 2021 season, Earl Rutledge Jr. did not immediately jump on the opportunity to fill the vacancy. Growing up in Quarryville, Rutledge always thought he'd end up coaching softball at Solanco High School (SHS). But after praying and thinking about the odds of not just one, but two coaching positions to open up, Rutledge decided to reach out to his daughter, Mallory Rutt, to ask if she'd like to join him as his assistant.

At first, Rutt was hesitant because she currently teaches Spanish at Solanco School District, so she had to get permission from her principal before she could apply for the position. After she received the green light, she and her dad made their potential employer aware that they were a package deal. Either they would coach together or not at all. This past January, LSHS announced that the father and daughter would get their wish.

"I've always wanted to coach with Mal," said Rutledge. "It just looks like it's made to be."

Before he became a pitching coach when Rutt was 10 years old, Rutledge had prior experience as an athlete playing men's fastpitch softball from the 1970s to the early 2000s. He traveled the world and played for 12 different teams over the years. On March 5, Rutledge was inducted into the USA/PA Softball of PA Hall of Fame.

It wasn't until 2007 that Rutledge learned how to coach a varsity softball team. As a freshman at SHS, Rutt was one of the two starting pitchers for the varsity team. Her coach, Brett Miller, had injured his arm, so Miller asked Rutledge to pitch at the team's batting practice. He decided to stay around and watch Miller run practices. "I learned a lot," said Rutledge. "As a coach, I'm very competitive about winning, but I want to teach you values that carry on after softball. Brett Miller does that so well at Solanco that people do not realize what he teaches besides softball."

After Rutt graduated from SHS in 2011, she attended Messiah University, where she studied Spanish and continued to play softball. She then taught at a school in Chester County, and while there, she coached a seventh-grade softball team for three years. Rutt noted that her experience coaching the team was a good way to ease into a different side of the sport. While Rutt was in college, her dad served as an assistant coach to his sister-in-law. The first year Rutledge and his sister-in-law coached together, the team won eight games, and two years later, the team made it to districts.

Rutledge noted that he will be thinking about his late father-in-law, Jack Melrath, this season. "He always came to every game my kids played. (Today) he'd probably come to practice, knowing that guy. He loved softball that much. I'm sure we'd have him in LSHS gear."

Both father and daughter are looking forward to this season. Rutledge's son and Rutt's husband have been helping to run practices. It truly is a family affair.

"In general, we're just excited for the season," stated Rutt. "We have a good group of girls. They're respectful, they're fun, and the sky's the limit for a lot of them. They just have a ton of potential."