Karen Bitter assumed the reins of the UVA Wise softball program in 2011 and has guided the Highland Cavaliers to over 300 wins, the change from NAIA to NCAA Division II, and two conference changes during her tenure.
The Yorktown, Virginia, native has coached the team to three 30 win seasons, a Mountain East Conference Tournament Championship, and an appearance in the NCAA Tournament. During her time in Wise she has coached one All-American, one VaSID Player of the Year, and numerous all-conference players.
She took over the role in 2011 and coached for three seasons before her husband Nick joined the staff as Co-Head Coach in 2014.
Over those three seasons she led the team to 91 wins, with the 2013 team picking up 31 wins. The 2014 squad had 37 wins (the second-most in program history) and finished the season 20-6 in MEC play. In the conference tournament they went undefeated, including their final two games against regular-season champion West Virginia Wesleyan, who they defeated 5-0 and 6-2 to claim the inaugural Mountain East Softball Championship.
Coaches Bitter guided the 2017 team to a four-seed in the NCAA Atlantic Regional, which the Cavs ended up hosting. It was the school’s first NCAA Tournament berth in any sport and the first NCAA postseason event held on the UVA Wise campus.
The 2016-19 teams all made the Mountain East Conference Tournament, with Bitter notching her 200th career win in 2019 before claiming her 203rd career victory to break the program's all-time win record.
That stretch also featured a standout pitcher in Taylor Brandts, who currently is the program’s pitching coach. A four-year letter winner, Brandts is one of the most decorated players in UVA Wise softball history, becoming the winningest pitcher in program history after she notched her 61st career victory with the Cavaliers win over Chowan University in the Atlantic Regional. Brandts became just the second Cavalier to earn All-American status after receiving All-American honorable mention accolades from both the Division II Conference Commissioner’s Association (D2CCA) and Fastpitch News.
The team made the transition from the Mountain East to the South Atlantic Conference in the summer of 2019. In 2024 they began playing on the newly-upgraded Cavalier Field, which had been converted to turf and enlarged. In 2025 the field was renamed in honor of Bill Gatton and the new scoreboard was installed. The Bitters have taken advantage of the new field to host several youth camps and training sessions throughout the year.
Bitter came to UVA Wise following a successful stint at Chowan University where she served as pitching coach for three seasons as a member of one of the most successful coaching staffs at the Division II level. The Chowan softball team piled up 30-win seasons in her final two years as the pitching coach and captured consecutive CIAA divisional championships.
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The former pitcher began her career at Tabb High School in Yorktown, Virginia, where she had a standout career before playing her collegiate career at Shepherd University. At Shepherd she became one of the most accomplished pitchers in the history of the program and is held several single-season and career school records at the time of her graduation.
After completing her playing career, she joined the coaching staff at Washington College in Maryland, serving as a graduate assistant for two seasons.
She and her husband, Nick, reside in Big Stone Gap along with their two children.
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