PEABODY — Mayor and School Committee Chair Edward A. Bettencourt Jr. confirmed Thursday that Peabody High Head Softball Coach Tawny Palmieri has been informed that she will not be returning as coach next year.
Bettencourt said Athletic Director Dennis Desroches and PVMHS Principal Brooke Randall delivered the news to Palmieri on Wednesday.
Palmieri, along with her father Gary and brother Gary, have coached the team since 2018 when she took over for longtime coach Butch Melanaphy after he was let go after leading the Tanners to their best season in program history in 2018 (18-3).
Palmieri, who played for Melanaphy while a student at Peabody High, played one year at UMass Amherst before transferring to Merrimack College. Her name is dotted all over the Merrimack College record book, where she was a NE-10 All-Conference honoree each of the three seasons she played for the Warriors and was named a Division 2 All-American.
The MIAA’s online records show Palmieri compiled a coaching record of 71-14 across four seasons. In 2019, the Tanners finished 13-8 and qualified for the Division 1 North tournament. Unfortunately, Peabody let a big lead slip away and was eliminated right off the bat by Acton-Boxborough, which eked out a 9-8 comeback win in eight innings.
After the 2020 season was canceled due to the pandemic, the Tanners finished 17-1 in 2021. They made it to the finals of the North Division 1 championship only to lose to Billerica, 3-1.
In 2022, Peabody finished 21-3, making it all the way to the state Division 1 final where the Tanners lost to eventual champion Taunton, 5-3.
This past season, the Tanners made a second straight appearance to the Division 1 Final Four, losing to Central Catholic 4-2 in the semifinals.
Prior to arriving in Peabody, Palmieri coached the softball team at Melrose High for one year. Before that, she spent three years as coach of the newly-revived Hamilton-Wenham softball team. She led the Generals to tournament appearances in her second and third seasons, but was abruptly dismissed late in the 2017 season despite posting a 12-1 record.
Palmieri has coached the Tanners’ field hockey team since the 2018 season. The Peabody Tanners Little League Softball website lists Palmieri as president of that organization’s board of directors.
The Item reached out to PVMHS Athletic Director Dennis Desroches and Palmieri for comment, but neither responded.
