Marshalltown Community College softball coach Olivia Fluehr will get a second chance to make a first impression.

Next season.

MCC interim athletic director Ryan Flack announced on Thursday that the Tiger softball program will be suspending the 2023 spring softball season due to the roster falling below minimum team requirements.

Four members of the nine-player roster were suspended after violation of team rules, leaving MCC well short of fielding a softball squad for Fluehr’s first season as head coach. Assistant coach Karen Harrill, a long-time high school softball coach at Lynnville-Sully, Union and Pella Christian, is in her inaugural season with the program as well.

Fluehr was hired in June of 2022 to replace Russ Jones, whose Tigers finished 11-45 overall and 1-23 in the Iowa Community College Athletic Conference in his last of three seasons at the helm.

MCC hasn’t had a winning record in softball since back-to-back above-.500 campaigns in 2016 and 2017. The Tigers were 8-8 in 2020 before COVID canceled the season.

All nine MCC softball players will retain their year of eligibility because the 2023 season wasn’t slated to start until March 12.